Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Neoliberalism and Law: The Case of the Constitutional Balanced-Budget Amendment

2016; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 17; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s2071832200021489

2071-8322

Thomas Biebricher,

European Union Policy and Governance

This Article discusses the significance of law in neoliberal theory and practice. Prefaced by a brief look at the role that law plays in the theories of the ordo- and neoliberal thinkers Franz Böhm and Friedrich August von Hayek, the subsequent chapters focus on the work of James Buchanan and his brand of neoliberalism, which combines constitutional economics public choice theory. Buchanan's core demand is a balanced-budget amendment to the constitution. The following Sections examine this measure in its various aspects before the final section switches to the world of “actually existing neoliberalism” with a discussion of the various reforms of the economic governance structure of the European Union in recent years, particularly the “Fiscal Compact”, which amounts to the real world equivalent of a balanced-budget amendment.