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Tuesday 31 August 2010
Free market has turned us into 'Matrix' drones

A leading economist has likened the nation’s acceptance of free-market capitalism to that of the brainwashed characters in the film The Matrix, unwitting pawns in a fake reality. In a controversial new book, the Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang debunks received wisdom on everything from the importance of the internet to the idea that people in the United States enjoy the highest standard of living in the world; an iconoclastic attitude that has won him fans such as Bob Geldof and Noam Chomsky.

Dr Chang’s 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism is one of a spate of tomes published in recent weeks that question the future of the current system, including Capitalism 4.0 by Anatole Kaletsky, and Ian Bremmer’s The End of the Free Market. Economists are keen to tap into the market for popular books on seemingly impenetrable subjects – highlighted by the runaway success of Freakonomics, which has sold more than four million copies since it was published in 2005 and is about to be made into a film.

South-Korean born Dr Chang aims to disprove what he sees as economic myths, including the idea that people are paid what they are worth, that the “trickle down” effect of increasing wealth among the rich helps the poor, and that education makes countries more prosperous.

45 notes

  1. shortercredo reblogged this from azspot
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  3. progressivepredilection reblogged this from shorterexcerpts and added:
    Adding to the to-read list. Adding to the to-read list.
  4. saidonce reblogged this from nothingshortof
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  6. shorterexcerpts reblogged this from azspot and added:
    Adding to the to-read list.
  7. nothingshortof reblogged this from azspot and added:
    Adding this to my to-read list immediately.
  8. waifsworld reblogged this from azspot and added:
    Also from the article…so, so
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