Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example

This thought was advanced by economists of the free market school of thought into the neo-liberalism economics. This new school of thought emerged a century later following the burst of free market ideals, growing out of the existing liberalism economics theory. What therefore was this old liberalism theory all about? Economic liberalism prevailed in America in the 1800 and early 1900 granting individuals the right to make profit in an increasingly unregulated market. Profit was therefore pursuable at no restrictions; an anything goes analogy that would soon plunge the world into unfathomed crisis a few decades later.

Subsequent to the economic crush of the 1929 occasioned by the crash of the stock market, the world was plunged into major turmoil; this lead to the emergence of two primary concerns as to how to restore balance to economies that had been into chaos. Firstly, that government had the duty and obligation to spend where others (largely the private sector) would not. Secondly, and in stark opposition to this was, that the intervention of state was both pointless in addition to being potentially dangerous in the long-run health of the aggregate economy (Wapshott, 2011).

These early debates still linger till now striking strong and ferocious debates and reactions both within the government and amongst corporate bodies. The subsidence of this World crisis and the decline in profitability in industries prompted the elite to revive economic liberalism leading to the development of neo-liberalism economics (Roberts, 2010). The neo-liberalism economics propagated for the exclusive rule of the markets within the economy; deregulation of government role on any aspect that would cut back on enterprise profitability (including workers’ safety, environment safety and workers’ unionization); privatization of public amenities and resources and reduced public welfare expenditure such as healthcare and education.

On the global scale, the spread of this new world order was halted by the World Wars. Subsequent to these was the United States’ Marshall Plan that once more made Europe a major trading bloc with the United States. The tide of independence and freedom of markets was meanwhile blowing across the Atlantics greatly positioning the new economic order to states that were alien due to prolonged socialism and colonization (Robbins, 2004). It is against this widespread neo-liberalism particularly by the United Sates (in its newly found capacity as the world’s superpower) that economists such as Polanyi forecasted the setting in motions events that are yet to lead to another world crisis.

The blatant permission of free market forces to be a lone determinant of the fate of humanity and the natural environment would ultimately result in the destruction of society (Polanyi, 2001). However, in an apparent contradiction of his prophecy, Polanyi further went to argue that such a societal destruction could not abound since the developments within the system would guarantee the supremacy of society over the economic system.