Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
Audiobook9 hours
The Big Con: The True Story of How Washington Got Hoodwinked and Hijacked by Crackpot Economics
Written by Jonathan Chait
Narrated by David Drummond
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
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About this audiobook
The Big Con is a brilliantly revealing look at how the radical ideas of a small group of economic hucksters have taken over the American political system and perverted our nation's policies.
American politics has been hijacked. Not by "neocons" or "theocons," but by a fringe group of economic extremists obsessed with radical ideas that favor no one but themselves and their business interests. With dark and engaging wit, Jonathan Chait shows how over the past three decades these canny zealots have gamed the political system and the media so that once unthinkable policies-without a shred of academic, expert, or even popular support-now drive the American agenda, regardless of which party is in power.
Why have these ideas succeeded in Washington? How did a subset of fringe radicals take control of American policy and sell short the country's future? And how do they continue to do so despite repeated electoral setbacks? Chait tells the outrageous and eye-opening story, expertly explaining just how politics and economics work in Washington. Through vivid portraits of self-interested politicians and pseudoeconomists, with wry analysis of their bogus theories, Chait gives us the tools to understand what's really behind economic policy debates in Washington: a riveting drama of greed and deceit.
American politics has been hijacked. Not by "neocons" or "theocons," but by a fringe group of economic extremists obsessed with radical ideas that favor no one but themselves and their business interests. With dark and engaging wit, Jonathan Chait shows how over the past three decades these canny zealots have gamed the political system and the media so that once unthinkable policies-without a shred of academic, expert, or even popular support-now drive the American agenda, regardless of which party is in power.
Why have these ideas succeeded in Washington? How did a subset of fringe radicals take control of American policy and sell short the country's future? And how do they continue to do so despite repeated electoral setbacks? Chait tells the outrageous and eye-opening story, expertly explaining just how politics and economics work in Washington. Through vivid portraits of self-interested politicians and pseudoeconomists, with wry analysis of their bogus theories, Chait gives us the tools to understand what's really behind economic policy debates in Washington: a riveting drama of greed and deceit.
Author
Jonathan Chait
Jonathan Chait is a political columnist for New York magazine. He was previously a senior editor at the New Republic and has also written for the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Atlantic. He has been featured throughout the media, including appearances on NPR, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, HBO, The Colbert Report, Talk of the Nation, C-SPAN, Hardball, and on talk radio in every major city in America. He lives in Washington, D.C.
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Reviews for The Big Con
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Big Con is a bit dated with allusions Bush Jr., but it provides the historical context for the plutocratic state we are in and how Conservatism drove us here.