A Comparative Analysis of the Three Main Faces of Economic Liberalism

Liberalism encompasses a diverse range of political, economic, social, and cultural values that have been interpreted over time in various ways and have created various branches. This article deals with the main faces of economic liberalism. There have been three main branches of economic liberalism: Classical liberalism, egalitarian liberalism, and neo-liberalism. Classical liberalism has been developed in 19th century emphasizing the negative nature of freedom in the market. During the 20th century, two other faces of economic liberalism have been emerged. Egalitarian liberalism which likes a more equal distribution of benefits, and neo-liberalism which prioritizes economic liberalization policies such as privatization, deregulation, and free trade. Neo-liberalism supports the idea that free market needs a strong state in order to protect it.