The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era

The Neoliberal Order by Gary Gerstle is a comprehensive and insightful account of how neoliberalism came to dominate American politics for nearly half a century, before crashing against the forces of Trumpism on the right and a new progressivism on the left.

This epochal shift towards neoliberalism - a web of related policies that reduced the footprint of government in society and reassigned economic power to private market forces - fundamentally changed the world.

Gerstle's book provides a nuanced understanding of the full contours of neoliberalism, including its fusion of ideas of deregulation with personal freedoms, open borders with cosmopolitanism, and globalization with the promise of increased prosperity for all.

The author also explores the previously unrecognized extent to which the neoliberal order's triumph was facilitated by the collapse of the Soviet Union and its communist allies.

With a focus on the most important points and key takeaways, this summary is sure to convince readers to purchase this informative and thought-provoking book.