The big myth : how American business taught us to loathe government and love the free market

"A carefully researched work of intellectual history, and an urgently needed political analysis." --Jane Mayer“[A] scorching indictment of free market fundamentalism ... and how we can change, before it's too late.”-Esquire, Best Books of Winter 2023The 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 bestselling 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 startling 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. The most influential and controversial economist of the twentieth century, John Maynard Keynes was the leading founder of modern macroeconomics, and was also an important historical figure as a critic of the Versailles Peace Treaty after World War I and an architect of the Bretton Woods international monetary system after World War II. This comprehensive Companion elucidates his contributions, his significance, his historical context and his continuing legacy. Prominent scholars examine Keynes's life and major writings, his theories and contributions, influences on the development of his thought, his interactions with his contemporaries, his followers and critics, the lasting significance of his work and the changing fortunes of Keynesianism in different countries.The concise but thorough and comprehensive entries are arranged in eight parts: Life and Work, Influences, Major Works, Economic Analysis, Critics and Contemporaries, Associates, Legacy and Impact, and Keynesianism in Various Countries. The Companion will serve as the standard reference work for all those interested in John Maynard Keynes, in the economics of Keynes and in the history of macroeconomics.Contributors include: N. Aslanbeigui, M. Assous, R. Backhouse, I. Barens, D. Besomi, P. Bini, M. Boianovsky, H. Bortis, M. Boumans, V. Caspari, V. Chick, P. Clarke, P. Davidson, J.B. Davis, R.W. Dimand, R. Dos Santos Ferreira, S. Dow, M.J. Flanders, J. Forder, M. Forstater, D. Glasner, R. Gomez Betancourt, C. Goodhart, P. Groenewegen, H. Hagemann, O. Hamouda, G.C. Harcourt, I. Hardeen, E. Hein, S. Hollander, P. Howitt, S. Howson, S.D. Kasper, P. Kerr, J. King, H. Klausinger, J. Kregel, P. Kriesler, H.D. Kurz, M. Lavoie, B. Littleboy, L. Magnusson, M.C. Marcuzzo, A. Millmow, D.E. Moggridge, A. Molavi Vassei, J. Neville, R. O'Donnell, G. Oakes, L. Ramrattan, S. Rivot, G. Rubin, M. Sawyer, R. Skidelsky, R.P. Smith, P. Spahn, M. Szenberg, A. Thirlwall, G. Tilly, H.-M. Trautwein, M. Wakatabe, L.R. Wray, W. Young 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." Merchants of Doubt exposed the origins of climate change denial. Now, its authors unfold the truth about another disastrous dogma. Why do Americans believe in the magic of the marketplace? The answer, as The Big Myth reveals: a propaganda blitz. Until the early 1900s, the U.S. government's guiding role in economic life was largely accepted. But then business elites, trade associations, wealthy powerbrokers, and media allies combatted regulation by building a new orthodoxy: down with big government, up with unfettered markets. Unearthing eye-opening archival evidence, Oreskes and Conway document campaigns to rewrite textbooks, combat unions, and defend child labor. They detail the ploys that turned hardline economists Hayek and 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 (and the young Ronald Reagan) to millions. By the 1970s, this crusade had succeeded. Its ideology would define the next half-century across Republican and Democratic administrations, giving us the opioid scourge, climate destruction, giant tech monopolies, 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. "A carefully researched work of intellectual history, and an urgently needed political analysis." —Jane Mayer "[A] scorching indictment of free market fundamentalism ... and how we can change, before it's too late."- Esquire , Best Books of Winter 2023 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 bestselling 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 startling archival evidence, Oreskes...