MODERN LIBERALISM NEGATIVES
As an ideology, modern liberalism is generally considered to be in the center of the economic spectrum and is based upon the idea of a mixed economy that includes elements from both the left and right. It first emerged out of the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the rise of socialist movements and values that swept across Europe and North America at the time. Historians consider the emergence of socialism, and in turn modern liberalism, as a response to some of the appalling conditions present in classical liberal societies of the Industrial Revolution. Modern liberalism was preceded by classical liberalism and both are part of liberalism as an ideology. Click here to read more about the history of modern liberalism.
As stated above, modern liberalism is associated with the center of the economic and spectrum because it allows for elements from both socialist ideologies and capitalist ideologies, combined with individual rights and freedoms and the principle of rule of law. As such, economists consider modern liberal societies to be examples of a welfare state and mixed economy. It developed in response to the perceived hardships created by classical liberalism in the 19th century and the early 20th century in England and the United States during the time frame of the Industrial Revolution and the Great Depression. Today, most modern democratic countries are some degree of modern liberalism, including: United States, England, France, Canada, etc. As such, when people today consider the positives and negative aspects of modern liberalism they often use the impacts of industrialization and economic recession to determine their response.
With that said, there are several negatives associated with modern liberalism. As stated above, modern liberalism is best associated with a mixed economy since it is also in the middle of the economic spectrum and includes elements from both the left and right. First, a mixed economy contains more government intervention than a free market economy (through taxation) and therefore may not lead to the periods of boom that a free market economy does. The taxation required to fund the social programs puts a burden on private businesses and limits their ability to thrive. This problem highlights another issue with mixed economies, which is finding the right balance between socialism and laissez-faire capitalism. Although a mixed economy contains elements of both, it can be a struggle to truly find a balance and governments may sometimes intervene too much and other times intervene too little. Furthermore, mixed economies sometimes struggle from large income gaps, just as free market economies do. Although mixed economies contain social programs such as welfare to avoid these gaps, the programs often do not do enough to truly stop wide gaps from growing between the rich and poor. As such, modern liberal societies with mixed economies often still struggle with the issues of poverty and unemployment.