Instead of thinking of neoliberalism as a form of politics, might it make more sense to consider it more as an “order”--a series of intersecting ideas, cultures, laws, and economic measures? This is the central argument of Gary Gerstle’s new book, The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order. As Steven Hahn writes in this week’s Books & the Arts, Gerstle shows not only how neoliberal ideas not only proliferated but also how they became a bipartisan project, “one that gained traction and energized the imaginations of people across the political spectrum, including those who were once part of the New Left.” “The neoliberal order,” Hahn writes, “was one of smoke and mirrors, offering a little something for everyone for a little while, together with a lot for the very few for much longer.” Perhaps for this reason, this order has demonstrated a particular skill at survival. Born in an era of crisis, it is unclear if it will falter in our own moment of turmoil. “Gerstle finished his book soon after Joe Biden was sworn in, and he senses that the neoliberal order is tottering and a new progressive order may be taking shape,” Hahn writes, but “unfortunately, what the past year has shown is that the promise evaporated quickly and the dangers have grown overwhelming.” Read “Will Neoliberalism Ever End?”