How Capitalism Saved America: The Untold History of Our Country, from the Pilgrims to the Present
By Thomas J. Dilorenzo Extolling free markets and upbraiding government intervention, economist DiLorenzo offers a tour of American economic history that is intended to counter the anticapitalist ideas embedded in best-sellers such as Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed (2001) and Michael Moore's Downsize This! (1997). While calling these anecdote- and emotion-driven tomes utter economic nonsense, DiLorenzo does acknowledge their influence. Most people, to the extent they understand the principles of free markets, are suspicious of them, citing robber barons, petroleum trusts, and the Great Depression. Inveighing against "myths" that the failures of capitalism were the cause of such historical episodes, DiLorenzo attacks the political response to them as pernicious to consumers, who, he argues, ultimately pay for price controls, regulations, subsidies, and government corporations. To the author's understandable frustration, these types of government intervention accumulate decade after decade, with "political entrepreneurs" almost always overpowering the ability of the market to operate freely. DiLorenzo's presentation challenges widespread beliefs about economic history.
Published Date: 25/08/2004
Format: PaperBack
ISBN: 1-4000-8331-1
Publisher: Three River Press
No of Pages: 298
Rating:
price 17 $ 
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