Clinton and Neoliberalism Explained – How NAFTA and the WTO Changed Everything
From Prosperity to Hollowed-Out Communities
The 1990s looked like a golden age: cheap goods, booming markets, the Internet on the rise. But under the gloss, something else was happening. Bill Clinton didn’t just ride the wave of neoliberalism — he locked it in.
With NAFTA, the WTO, and China’s entry into global trade, Clinton cemented a system where corporations gained power, workers lost security, and governments became bystanders. The “good times” of the 1990s came with a price tag we’re still paying.
Table of contents
What Clinton Did
- NAFTA (1994): Sold as job creation, it meant factories fleeing to Mexico, U.S. wages stagnating, and Mexican farmers wiped out by subsidised American corn.
- WTO (1995): Promised fair trade. Delivered corporate tribunals that could overrule national laws on labour, environment, or safety.
- China in the WTO (2000): Clinton’s final act. American industry relocated to China for cheap labour and weak regulations. The U.S. lost factories, China gained an empire.
The Fallout
In the U.S.: The Rust Belt collapsed, millions lost stable jobs, and despair set in — fuelling the opioid crisis and populist backlash.
In Mexico: Farmers forced off the land, flooding into factories or across the border in search of survival.
Globally: Corporations became borderless, accountable to no one but shareholders. Politicians became managers of perception, not policy.
Why It Mattere
The 1990s weren’t just “prosperous.” They were the decade when neoliberalism went global and irreversible. Clinton was its salesman-in-chief: smiling on TV while handing over the keys to corporations.
The legacy? Governments still scramble to regulate tech monopolies, trade still undercuts workers, and supply chains still dictate politics. The system Clinton built hasn’t faded — it’s hardened.
Conclusion: The Mirage of Prosperity
People remember the 1990s as stability and growth. But look closer: wages flatlined, communities hollowed out, and politics bent to corporate power.
Clinton didn’t bring prosperity. He outsourced it. And today’s chaos — from economic precarity to populist revolt — still traces back to those “good old days.”
FAQ: Clinton and Neoliberalism
Q: What is neoliberalism in simple terms?
The ideology of free markets, deregulation, and global trade deals that favour corporations over workers.
Q: What was NAFTA’s real impact?
It shifted U.S. manufacturing to Mexico, destroyed Mexican farming, and weakened both nations’ working classes.
Q: How did the WTO change things?
It gave corporations tools to challenge national laws, reducing governments’ ability to protect workers or the environment.
Q: Why was China’s entry into the WTO so important?
It supercharged outsourcing. U.S. industry fled to China, hollowing out the American Rust Belt.
Q: Why blame Clinton?
He wasn’t the first neoliberal, but he locked it in globally. His trade deals set the template for today’s corporate dominance.
