The world became more social liberal economic conservative in the last 50 years

[buritobr]

I think that, from the 1960s to the 2010s, the world moved to the right on economic issues and to the left on social issues.

In the 1960s, the top 1% earned 10% of the national income in the USA. Nowadays, the top 1% earns 20%. The top income tax rate in the developed countries used to be between 60% and 90%. Nowadays, the top income tax rate is between 40% and 50%. Real purchase power of the minimum wage used to follow the productivity growth. Labor unions were stronger. In Europe, even in the capitalist west, there was a consensus that the state should take care of education and health. State owned enterprises were accepted in electricity, telefone, railways, airlines and heavy industries. In the 1980s and 1990s, these enterprises were privatised. It is accepted now that private firms can manage public schools. Keynesianism was the mainstream in the 1960s. Nowadays, there is the "new keynesianism", which has keynesianism only in the name.

On the other hand, the world became more open mind about race, sex, religion and civil liberties. In the 1960s, most of the Americans did not tolerate interracial marriage. Nowadays, most of the Americans tolerate gay marriage. In the 1960s, it was very hard to find blacks in soccer stadiums in Europe, in the teams and in the audience. The first soccer players in Europe, in the 1970s, used to earn less than the whites. Nowadays, there is no racial wage gap. The number of non-religious people in western countries in increasing. There is no apartheid in South Africa anymore. In the 1960s, there were three right-wing dictatorships in Europe, many right-wing dictatorships in Latin America and Asia. Now, there is a "right-wing" dictatorship... in China.

The increasing participation of women in the labor market is na evidence of the two sides of the coin. On one hand, it reflects the modernization of the values. On the other hand, it reflects the stagnation of the middle class wages.

[buritobr]

Iran in the 1970's was probably more socially liberal than Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Greece etc.

Interesting. Do you have a source?

[buritobr]

Something something "The Triumph of Liberalism", and I'd guess that if this were to begin at some point, it'd be the 70's, with the early 1990's being its "peak".

To expand on that, I was referring to the "rise of the right" in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the death of Mao in China. I only thought like a second ago of another example: Samuel Huntington's "The Third Wave" marked, well, the "Third Wave"'s [defined here as the third wave of democratization] beginning at about like 1974, itself completing in 1990-ish--or at least that's when he wrote the book.

It is hard to believe that 50 years ago, the income inequality in the USA and in the UK was lower than it was in France and FR Germany. The top income tax was higger in the USA and in the UK than it was in France and FR Germany. The ratio public spending / GDP was only slightly bigger in France than it was in the USA. Nowadays, it is much bigger.
The conservative conter revolution of the 1980s was much stronger in the Anglo Saxon world.