Skip to main content
Regional secretary with the National Education Union
G7 tax reform: is neoliberalism drawing to a close?
The announcement by the G7 countries that they would introduce a global minimum tax for corporations is a clear shift in the economic order, writes JAMES MEADWAY
From left, EU's Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe, World Bank President David Malpass, Italy's Finance Minister Daniele Franco, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Managing Director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva, Germany's Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Mathias Cormann, Japan's Finance Minister Taro Aso pose for a family photo as finance ministers from across the G7 nations meet at Lancaster House in London

FOR 40 years or more, governments holding fast to neoliberal principles have set in train what US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen rightly called a “race to the bottom” on global taxation, as countries deluded themselves that lower corporation taxes would mean more investment and more growth.

This deal is the clearest sign yet that the days of neoliberalism — the belief in privatisation, low taxes for the rich and subservience to the market — are finally drawing to a close.

Giant corporations were able to exploit the rules on international taxes, originally drawn up for a very different world in the 1930s, to almost pick and choose where and how much tax they paid.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Argentina's President Javier Milei (centre right) arrives at
Features / 21 December 2023
21 December 2023
Already the extremism of the new Argentinian president’s administration is being watered down in the face of reality – but now the Chinese central bank has cut funding it could be in serious trouble, writes JAMES MEADWAY
As prices have soared, the major businesses that dominate gl
Features / 19 April 2023
19 April 2023
JAMES MEADWAY looks at the multiple emerging crises, most linked to climate change, that will lead to price rises for consumers and bumper profits for big business. The solutions, however, are simple
Nigel Lawson, applauded by then Prime Minister Margaret That
Features / 8 April 2023
8 April 2023
An early adherent of free-market fundamentalism, at Thatcher's side throughout her most damaging years, Lawson attacked our unions, industry and the very fabric of our society, writes JAMES MEADWAY
The Bank of England
Features / 24 March 2023
24 March 2023
The Bank of England has been swinging its interest rate bludgeon for the last year, and the wreckage is starting to pile up, warns JAMES MEADWAY
Similar stories
Activists from Fossil Free London and Green New Deal Rising
Features / 31 January 2025
31 January 2025
BERNIE EVANS despairs of a government that is asking the crooks sucking Britain dry how to get the economy back on track
CORPORATE OVERLORDS: Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves host an
Features / 3 December 2024
3 December 2024
The left must call out the fact that BlackRock and private billionaires have merged with the state apparatus as our leaders abandon any pretence of there being a ‘free market’ for direct and overt corporate control, writes JOE GILL
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves makes her keynote
Features / 22 October 2024
22 October 2024
Raising capital gains tax to match income tax is not only economically sound but morally just, potentially raising billions for public services — it’s an absolute no-brainer for any Labour government, argues BERNIE EVANS
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage smoking outside the Westminste
Features / 12 September 2024
12 September 2024
As angry voters reject austerity, social insecurity and endless war across Europe, the left should be the beneficiary instead of the far right. NICK WRIGHT looks at the ideological hangups holding us back from connecting to these dissenters