The Predator State Lib/E: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too

The cult of the free market--with its dogma of tax cuts, small government, and deregulation--has dominated economic policy talk since the Reagan revolution of nearly thirty years ago, seducing even liberals along the way. But a funny thing happened on the bridge to the twenty-first century: the conservatives themselves have abandoned these principles. In this riveting book, Galbraith first dissects the stale remains of Reaganism and shows why George W. Bush had no choice but to dump them. He then explores the true nature of the Bush regime: a "corporate republic" doing the bidding of the oil, military, pharmaceutical, and media industries; a predator state intent not on reducing government, but on diverting public cash into private hands. In The Predator State, Galbraith shows why our real economy is not a free-market economy, and why it requires policies that transcend, not privilege, the market.

About the Author :
James K. Galbraith holds the Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr., Chair in Government/Business Relations at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He holds degrees from Harvard and Yale. He studied economics as a Marshall scholar at King's College, Cambridge, and then served on the staff of the US Congress, including as executive director of the Joint Economic Committee. He directs the University of Texas Inequality Project, an informal research group at the LBJ School, is a senior scholar of the Levy Economics Institute, and is chair of Economists for Peace and Security, a global professional association. William Hughes is an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator. A professor of political science at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon, he received his doctorate in American politics from the University of California at Davis. He has done voice-over work for radio and film and is also an accomplished jazz guitarist.

Review :
"[A] highly readable manifesto...Galbraith's tour of economics abounds in arresting facts and opinions...His is a stimulating if sometimes scattershot challenge to conventional wisdom." -- "Publishers Weekly" "[Galbraith] offers an important perspective in this thought-provoking book written in plain English. Excellent resource for library patrons." -- "Booklist" "The author, whose prose is reminiscent of that of his famous father, John Kenneth Galbraith, is as wickedly biting as he is over the top...the gusto with which he repeatedly challenges tired conventions is refreshing...This is brilliant rhetoric...He has raised trenchant questions about a system in crisis." -- "New York Times" "James Galbraith elegantly and effectively counters the economic fundamentalism that has captured public discourse in recent years, and offers a cogent guide to the real political economy. Myth-busting, far-ranging, and eye-opening." -- "Robert B. Reich, professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley" "Narrator William Hughes, a political-science professor, reads with confidence and conviction, making the listener want to believe everything he says, as upsetting as it is to consider the state of economy as Galbraith describes it." -- "SoundCommentary.com" "Shows how to break the spell that conservatives have cast over the minds of liberals (and everyone else) for many years." -- "Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2001 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences"