One key functional difference between libertarians and neoliberals became apparent in 2008 with “Too Big to Fail Banks.” To the question of whether to let the banks fail, the libertarian says simply, “the government isn’t in the business of picking winners or losers, and so the government should let failing banks fail.”
On the contrary, the neoliberal says, “the government should save those banks in order to preserve stability and order.”
To the neoliberal, major banks are so essential that they are “too big to fail.” If those banks failed, they would bring entire global economic system down with them. And because neoliberals assume that the global economic system provides some sort of stability, the neoliberal finds it only reasonable that governments need to support those banks to promote as much stability as possible.
via Strikes, Rallies and Protests: The Grassroots Fight for a Moral Economy
