The Big Myth
How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market
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The Big Myth
Narrated by:
Liza Seneca
Buy Now for ₹842.13
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Narrated by:
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Liza Seneca
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Written by:
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Naomi Oreskes
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Erik M. Conway
“An immense scholarly feat.”—New Yorker * “[A] scorching indictment of free market fundamentalism . . . and how we can change, before it’s too late.”—Esquire
The bestselling authors of Merchants of Doubt offer a profound, startling history of one of America’s most tenacious—and destructive—false ideas: the myth of the "free market."
In their landmark book Merchants of Doubt, Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway revealed the origins of climate change denial. Now, they unfold the truth about another disastrous dogma: the “magic of the marketplace.”
In the early 20th century, business elites, trade associations, wealthy powerbrokers, and media allies set out to build a new American orthodoxy: down with “big government” and up with unfettered markets. With trenchant archival evidence, Oreskes and Conway document campaigns to rewrite textbooks, combat unions, and defend child labor. They detail the ploys that turned hardline economists Friedrich von Hayek and Milton Friedman into household names; recount the libertarian roots of the Little House on the Prairie books; and tune into the General Electric-sponsored TV show that beamed free-market doctrine to millions and launched Ronald Reagan’s political career.
By the 1970s, this propaganda was succeeding. Free market ideology would define the next half-century across Republican and Democratic administrations, giving us a housing crisis, the opioid scourge, climate destruction, and a baleful response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Only by understanding this history can we imagine a future where markets will serve, not stifle, democracy.©2023 Naomi Oreskes (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
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Critic Reviews
The scholarly literature on neoliberalism tends to focus either on the intellectual genealogy of neoliberal thought or on the political history of neoliberal policies. Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway’s The Big Myth adds a third dimension to the story … it’s an immense scholarly feat.
[A] scorching indictment of free market fundamentalism … and how we can change, before it’s too late.
Richly researched … [Oreskes and Conway] succeed in chronicling a concerted effort by American business to shift public opinion in favor of free markets.
Impressive.
Oreskes and Conway tell the important and frequently infuriating history of how it is that Americans came to equate the broad concept of freedom with an almost religious belief in the free market … The authors acknowledge that markets do have a role in generating information and allocating resources, one that central planning has never been able to replicate. Their argument is not that capitalism is bad but rather that we should acknowledge its limits. (Bethany McLean)
Outstanding … A pair of historians explain how market fundamentalism leads to science denial … For scientists who are dumbfounded by anti-science attitudes, understanding this history is vital. Only by understanding the forces that cause science denial can anything be done about it. Like Merchants of Doubt before it, The Big Myth offers crucial insight into this phenomenon.
A sweeping tale of what must be one of the most successful propaganda campaigns ever, one that transformed the intuitive common sense of both American elites and regular people . . . The book is an incredible work of scholarship, and every page has at least one sparkling, fascinating fact.
Offers a valuable perspective on our current disputes about both the democratic and the capitalist sides of democratic capitalism … If today’s executives want to address the tensions about their companies’ role in our societies, The Big Myth suggests one starting point: for business to stop pushing the idea that the only role of government is to get out of its way.
Conservative economic thought has had a major influence on American life and culture. Readers clamoring for an understanding of its intellectual origins would benefit from picking up The Big Myth.
Hard-hitting, persuasive.
A vital resource for those trying to navigate a world where the government is demonized by many and corporations receive the rights of citizens from our courts.
Readers will be intellectually enlivened ... The way the book challenges each component of market mythology is hugely impressive … In a world facing existential threats like climate change, markets alone do not suffice, [Oreskes and Conway] argue. Governments must act.
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