The Predator State, James K. Galbraith
The Predator State, James K. Galbraith
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The Predator State
How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too

Author: James K. Galbraith

Narrator: William Hughes

Unabridged: 8 hr 9 min

Format: Digital Audiobook (DRM Protected)

Published: 05/05/2009

Synopsis

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 James K. Galbraith

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.

About William Hughes

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.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Bart on February 05, 2009

This is a wonderful contribution to the world’s current reevaluation of free-market ideology and should be read by anyone with sufficient intellectual dexterity to have looked at 9/18/08 and said, I was completely wrong about everything I heretofore believed about capitalism; I think I’ll have a sec......more

Goodreads review by Tommy on May 29, 2020

This is a pretty standard post-Keynesian criticism of the moronic bipartisan assumptions of government budgeting on GDP and shared objectives of attacking trade deficits and public debt not backed by any serious understanding of global finance or the functional role of savings but there's a very int......more

Goodreads review by Frank on January 25, 2009

Brilliant, provocative book. Galbraith shows that most "pro-market" rhetoric is meaningless. The corporations, oligarchs, and laissez-faire apologists who deploy it conveniently ignore the myriad ways state action strengthens their own grip on power. Given the recent financial meltdown and the bonus-......more

Goodreads review by Todd on August 31, 2009

In “The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too” economist James K. Galbraith argues that the economic principles of an unfettered free market, developed and put into practice 30 years ago by conservatives during the Reagan administration, have been pr......more

Goodreads review by Harry on June 05, 2023

Despite being a worthwhile and important book, The Predator State founders not on the merit of its points or the assiduousness of its evidence, but on its being borderline unreadable. Galbraith in the introduction explains that he's written this book for the layperson, so we ought to excuse the lack......more

Quotes

“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

“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

“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

“[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

“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

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