The Predator State -- James K. Galbraith-- Review

The Predator State How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market And Why Liberals Should Too by James K. Galbraith

This book is an attack on supply side and conservative economics. It argues against many accepted dogmas of current economics. There are discussions of price controls, planning, and national standards which are no longer part of the national policy debate. Numerous examples abound of how many accepted ideas are false. For example, James K. Galbraith argues that full employment is more effective for the economy because it limits waste of resources.

One of the central tenets of the book is that the free market is excessively focused on consumption and individual economic freedoms. These freedoms concentrate capital into a small number of economic hands. At the same while the free market has become sacrosant, the rights of labor have disappeared from the discussion, as well as the meaning of achieving the American dream.

This concentration of capital has created a new kind of politician. With excessive CEO pay, it allows corporate CEOs to move easily into the political sphere. Many of these corporate representatives turned politicians become predatory. Their primary interest is to extract resources from the government and turn it over to private corporations. James K. Galbraith gives numerous examples from Enron and Tyco, vouchers in schools, social security privatization, to efforts to deregulate entire industries. The majority of this extraction is occurring in programs that help the middle class.

Because most of this political and corporate activity is focused on short term profits, it often leads to financial instability in the United States. This is partially what caused the current fiscal crisis in the United States.

He further argues that the world financial trade system is not a system of free trade. The United States may not be able to maintain its position on top if it continues to generate more financial crises. The Euro or a combination of currencies could possibly take the place of the dollar.

This book is very biased against conservatives and libertarians. However, it has many important points to make. In many parts it is not an enjoyable book to read because it attacks so many basic beliefs. However, it does shed some light on the fiscal crisis in the United States.

James K. Galbraith is the son of John Kenneth Galbraith. James Galbraith holds to Keynesian economics which have gone out of style as well as many of the economic theories of John Kenneth Galbraith.

In the beginning of the book, the author states he is writing a popular book, not an academic treatise. I wish he had included some statistics and put in some charts and tables. It would have made the book far better. There is an index, but there is no bibliography. A bibliography would have been helpful. He footnotes the book, but does not include endnotes. The book is printed by the Free Press which is known for its focus on printing books with new and often radical ideas.

Home Again

A short rhyme for your entertainment.

Home Again

I am home again today. I am drinking chamomile tea right now. I found a lozenge candy that seems to help a bit better than regular cold medicine called Soothers whch combines echinacia, zinc, and vitamin c.

I wrote a short review of Too Many Curses. I also did a few more literary exercises from Writing Begins With the Breath. Here are two short poems that came from the literary exercises.

Death

I leave my old skin
And fly away, I know not where
I go skyward home

Body

A husk, an empty shell
With spirit floating away smokey white
Lingering in human thoughts

I rested some more and took some time to look at a few of the science fiction and fantasy art books which I collect. Some of my favorite artists are Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, Richard M. Powers, Frank Kelly Freas, and Virgil Finlay.

The New Yorker has a series of videos on their website called The Naked Campaign. It is a series of short videos of a political cartoonist drawing cartoons of the presidential campaign. The videos are both faschinating and humorous. They are really fun to watch.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/nakedcampaign/videos

I finally went to the doctor this evening and he gave me some medicine in the office as well as some prescriptions. I am already starting to feel a little better.

I am reading The Predator State How Conservatives Abandoned The Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too by James K. Galbraith. The political partisanship in this book is so thick that even though I am liberal in many viewpoints, it seems like demagoguery. I am finding some of his points quite interesting and useful, but to find the points requires me to read various diatribes against libertarianism and conservatism.

I wish there was more statements of fact backed with quotes and citations. I am only fourteen pages into the book. This book is so partisan that it is almost impossible to read. I think, I will read it to find out the arguments. The content is not so great. The author seems to be seeking payback for the long period of government acting against Keynsian economics. James K. Galbraith is the son of John Kenneth Galbraith who I have a great deal of respect for.