The Invisible Doctrine

The Secret History of Neoliberalism (& How It Came to Control Your Life)

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The Invisible Doctrine

By: George Monbiot, Peter Hutchison

Narrated by: George Monbiot

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

We live under an ideology that preys on every aspect of our lives: our education and our jobs; our healthcare and our leisure; our relationships and our mental wellbeing; even the planet we inhabit – the very air we breathe. So pervasive has it become that, for most people, it has no name. It seems unavoidable, like a natural law.

But trace it back to its roots, and we discover that it is neither inevitable nor immutable. It was conceived, propagated, and then concealed by the powerful few. It is time to bring it into the light - and, in doing so, to find an alternative worth fighting for.

Neoliberalism. Do you know what it is?

Economic History

Economics

Political Science

Politics & Government

Thought-Provoking

Socialism

Capitalism

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Critic reviews

Explosive and beautifully told … these truths can set us free (Danny Dorling)

This brave book borders on being a page turner … ‘The Secret History of Neoliberalism’ is really the ultimate crime novel, one in which we all play a part (Kevin Anderson)

Incisive, illuminating, eye-opening—an unsparing anatomy of the great ideological beast stalking our times (David Wallace-Wells)

The Invisible Doctrine is everything you need. Monbiot and Hutchinson have written the definitive short history of the neoliberal confidence trick (Yanis Varoufakis)

Mrs Thatcher was wrong: there is an alternative. Read this book and rebel (Guy Shrubsole)

Read it, get angry, demand better! (Gaia Vince)

Vital, vivid, compelling. Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how dark money and hidden influence have taken over politics - and the world (Peter Geoghegan)

An urgent unmasking of some of the most powerful and insidious yet overlooked ideas of our era (Olúfemi O. Táíwò)

This book is dynamite – shining a spotlight on the evils of neoliberalism, shattering the myth that ‘there is no alternative’, and laying the foundations for a new politics (Caroline Lucas)

This is the book we have been waiting for. Read it, discuss it with your friends, and join the resistance! (Ingrid Robeyns)

Most relevant

This is an excellent book—well written and read. It should become compulsory reading for every politician of every persuasion, particularly those on the right. I hope it achieves public awareness while adding to the growing literature on our appalling, dysfunctional economy.

The first step towards much-needed change is to strip away the lies and dishonesty to reveal how the rich have been able to pervert the course of democracy and gain control over our economy for their exclusive benefit.

While I applaud much of its content, I don’t support all of its assertions. The authors tend to conflate capitalism (a philosophy) with neoliberalism (an economic policy) and berate both, yet they are two distinct things. As a philosophy, capitalism has a lot going for it. When implemented correctly through an effective economic policy, such as a social market policy similar to that followed by Germany post WWII by Chancellor Adenauer, it serves society and the environment fairly well. Neoliberal or free market economic policies, on the other hand, align poorly with capitalist principles and are an abomination, serving only financial capital needs at the expense of our other three primary capitals: human, environmental and common capital. This, in the simplest terms, is why we have a dysfunctional economy.

Profit and growth are not capitalism's objectives—sustained upliftment of the majority through free enterprise is its purpose, which is achieved by rewarding all participants fairly. Therefore, one can see to what extent capitalism's ideology has been distorted out of proportion through its extremely poor implementation through neoliberal, free-market policies. This is why, prior to the mid-1970s, they were considered absurd policies.

I draw your attention to this as it makes finding a workable solution much easier, given the time constraints, extent of damage inflicted by neoliberalism, and change required. As an interim step, we should return to economic policies that serve all four primary capitals equally.

The book argues that we need more representative governance, which I fully agree with. The reality is, to provide prosperity to all; we have to change the narrative we currently live by. This represents seismic change. To get the money and government support to set this in motion, as an interim step, we should replace neoliberalism with social market policies, reintroducing much higher corporate and progressive tax systems with low-threshold inheritance tax. Thus, taking back from those who have taken from the majority to fund a new, radically changed future that serves the majority's needs.