abstract: 'The 2008 global financial crisis, precipitated by high-risk,

  under-regulated financial practices, is often seen as a singular event.

  The crisis, its recessionary consequences, bank bailouts and the

  adoption of `austerity'' measures can be seen as a continuation of a

  40-year uncontrolled experiment in neoliberal economics. Although public

  spending and recapitalisation of failing banks helped prevent a

  1930s-style Great Depression, the deep austerity measures that followed

  have stifled a meaningful recovery for the majority of populations. In

  the short term, these austerity measures, especially cuts to health and

  social protection systems, pose major health risks in those countries

  under its sway. Meanwhile structural changes to the global labour

  market, increasing under-employment in high-income countries and

  economic insecurity elsewhere, are likely to widen health inequities in

  the longer term. We call for four policy reforms to reverse rising

  inequalities and their harms to public health. First is re-regulating

  global finance. Second is rejecting austerity as an empirically and

  ethically unjustified policy, especially given now clear evidence of its

  deleterious health consequences. Third, there is a need to restore

  progressive taxation at national and global scales. Fourth is a

  fundamental shift away from the fossil fuel economy and policies that

  promote economic growth in ways that imperil environmental

  sustainability. This involves redistributing work and promoting fairer

  pay. We do not suggest these reforms will be politically feasible or

  even achievable in the short term. They nonetheless constitute an

  evidence-based agenda for strong, public health advocacy and practice.'
affiliation: 'Labonte, R (Corresponding Author), Univ Ottawa, Sch Epidemiol, Dept
  Publ Hlth \& Prevent Med, 850 Peter Morand Crescent, Ottawa, ON K1G 3Z7, Canada.

  Labonte, Ronald, Univ Ottawa, Sch Epidemiol, Dept Publ Hlth \& Prevent Med, 850
  Peter Morand Crescent, Ottawa, ON K1G 3Z7, Canada.

  Stuckler, David, Univ Oxford, Dept Sociol, Oxford, England.'
author: Labonte, Ronald and Stuckler, David
author-email: rlabonte@uottawa.ca
author_list:
- family: Labonte
  given: Ronald
- family: Stuckler
  given: David
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1136/jech-2015-206295
eissn: 1470-2738
files: []
issn: 0143-005X
journal: JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND COMMUNITY HEALTH
keywords-plus: FINANCIAL CRISIS; RECESSION
language: English
month: MAR
number: '3'
number-of-cited-references: '70'
orcid-numbers: Stuckler, David/0000-0002-1288-8401
pages: 312-318
papis_id: d8a1917704075af42b8c152b7f3bbd87
ref: Labonte2016riseneoliberalism
researcherid-numbers: 'Stuckler, David/H-2261-2012

  Labonte, Ronald/G-4229-2011

  '
times-cited: '95'
title: 'The rise of neoliberalism: how bad economics imperils health and what to do
  about it'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000369963400018
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '41'
volume: '70'
web-of-science-categories: Public, Environmental \& Occupational Health
year: '2016'