Over at TPM Café (www.tpmcafe.com) I’ve posted a review of James Galbraith’s witty, insightful book, The Predator State, which some readers may find of interest.
What is delightful about James Galbraith’s The Predator State is that he says things that are, at once, outrageous– and completely true. Because he shows so little concern for what one "can" and one "cannot" say in a polite capitalist society, one might call him an idealist. But Galbraith is not tilting at windmills; he is simply toppling the conventional wisdom of the past 28 years.
Begin with "the market." When you come down to it, Galbraith explains, "the market" is a fiction. In theory, "it is the broker, the means of detached and dispassionate interaction between parties with opposed interests…Buyers want a low price, sellers wants a high price. The market works out the price that exactly balances these desires, a price that is fair because it is the market price." Even liberals believe in this mythical "market"–a higher intelligence that hovers over transactions ensuring that, as long as you let "the market" work its magic, everything will work out for the best…
To read the whole review, click here.
I’m stuck on the “rule of law”. I (rdf) commented at TPM on some of the other discussions about the influence of the “vast right wing conspiracy” and the ability of elected officials to gut regulatory agencies and rules.
The rule of law doesn’t work when voters have no real say in who gets elected. Everything comes down to our broken electoral system – too little choice, too much money.
Galbraith is yet another of the good intentioned idealists. Getting from here to Nirvana is the part that all such books seem to be weak on.
Robert–
By the rule of law, I simple mean government’s power to set rules–and enforce them.
See my recent post on regulation of hospitals.
The recent Medicare legislation strips the Joint Commission of its “unique” authority over hospital inspection adn accreditation.
We’ll have to see what happens next. But things are changing.
And, especially now, there is no good argument for giving up.
Where does that get us? Hope is a force for change.
“To hope, till hope creates, from its own wreck, the thing it contemplates.”
The 19th century poet Shelley said this. I beliecved it when I was 20; I believe it now.
thinkers from Newt Gingrich to Jamie Galbraith unhappy with outcomes understandably want to change the rules. they think outcomes are proof that the game is rigged and that the result would be very different if they could only enact the right rules. but the public rejects changing the rules, largely because it isn’t that unhappy with the outcomes. perhaps the growth of education will make folks more dissatisfied — since there’s an apparent correlation now between — but there’s little evidence that’s worked in the past.
jim jaffe–
I think that things are getting bad enough in various ways–not just health care but the economy as a whole–that folks are getting more dissatisfied.
and there is evidence that this worked in the past. 1929, and the Great Depression led to marches on Washington that led to the New Deal.
I certainly hope that things don’t have to get that bad. The last 8 years should be bad enough to lead to greater reason and change.
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