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The Shock Doctrine

the Rise of Disaster Capitalism
redban
Dec 19, 2013redban rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Excellent historical and social policy insight. For a direct critique of Wall Street, Matt Taibbi's "Griftopia" is most recommended! To StarGladiator: I'd say Naomi is sincere; she doesn't push it as far in the pure Economics sense because that is not her expertise. paul1's comment using "stats" as "proof" is on the level of a Grade 3 science experiment. Thoughtlessly clobbering together 3 stats of different magnitudes/context/timeframes/methodologies, piling this on a mountain of assumptions, and proclaiming it as proof... great. The term "Free Market" represents both a theory (some would say a myth) and a practice. Ms. Klein is critiquing the practice (which is characterized by resource exploitation and financial hegemony), while scholars like Ha-Joon Chang can show you the difference between the practice and the myth. But seriously... on the international level (Asia, Latin America, Africa, Middle East), European decolonization and trying to rebuild after decades of American corporate interventions are hardly accomplishments of so-called Free Markets. In statistics, correlation does not mean causation, but your correlations are not even sound! The "Free Markets" practiced are obviously scams when third-world populist leaders trying to nationalize resources are assassinated and foreign-sponsored death squads patrol the land while multinational corporations loot the resources. Yes, it is quite "free" for multinational corporations, just as Free Trade agreements "free" multinational corporations from the laws of sovereign nations.