The rise and fall of neoliberalism: Evidences from an ecological and regulationist analysis of France (1960–2020)

Abstract

This article explores the critical role of energy in shaping capitalist modes of development, and their entry into crisis, in France between 1960 and 2020. This analysis challenges traditional views that regard energy primarily as an exogenous shock and instead posits energy as a fundamental metabolic constraint in capitalist accumulation regimes. To demonstrate this, we integrate energy flows into the analysis of capitalists' regimes by crossing two bodies of knowledge: ecological economics and regulation theory. We enrich regulation theory with three key ecological macroeconomics indicators: thermodynamic efficiency, exosomatic metabolic rate and the weight of energy expenditures. Using descriptive statistics, we show that the weight of energy expenditures is the most significant variable: it must be contained if the rate of profit is to be maintained and if capital accumulation is to continue. Neoliberalism responded to the metabolic exhaustion of Fordism but eventually encountered its own limits in managing energy constraints. Neoliberal recipes for reconfiguring the metabolism have generated major imbalances likely to call into question the reproduction of this regime (financial crises, trade imbalances). We conclude that neoliberalism's structural crisis is rooted in the exhaustion of past energy management strategies, opening the door to the emergence of post-liberal capitalism.