Cover Image: The Big Myth

The Big Myth

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Member Reviews

THE BIG MYTH by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway is a treatise about "How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market." These two authors (Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University and a historian of science and technology at the California Institute of Technology, respectively) have collaborated previously on Merchants of Doubt and Oreskes has written extensively on Why Trust Science. In their latest endeavor, they explore economic issues and various periods of American history, arguing that there is a pattern favoring free market ethos. For example, an entire chapter is devoted to how the Big Myth goes West, with commentary about the impact of The Little House series. Their conclusion quotes conservative jurist Richard Posner saying, "The responsibility for building the guard rails that capitalism has proven itself to require has to rest with government, because there isn't any other institution to do it." All very interesting, if a bit dry in places. Kirkus described THE BIG MYTH as a "timely, well-argued contribution to the literature of economic inequality and regulation." Pick up this title if it matches your interests. There is much to investigate further - over a fourth of the book is devoted to notes. Plus, a keynote with video of Oreskes speaking about her research and this text is available online: https://vimeo.com/727392720

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A thorough history of free market and deregulation ideology that helps readers understand how the United States grew so entwined with these ideas. Oreskes and Conway do an excellent job of clearly outlining the key players and thoughts that have conjoined ideas of freedom with unregulated capitalism and in doing so transformed American culture and political debate. This extremely well-researched volume deftly handles difficult economic concepts and makes them understandable for an educated lay audience. A timely read, and an excellent work for those interested in the history of ideas in America.

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The Big Myth dives into the history of how businesses and think tanks pushed their libertarian view of markets/government mainstream. While the book was a bit of a necessary slow build, I really enjoyed the section about Rose Wilder Lane and how her views influenced the Little House on the Prairie books. I’d highly recommend this for anyone into history as well as politics.

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These two authors are both historians of science, and I didn't find their new book very satisfying. It, for my taste, contained too many descriptors that always pointed to the left of the political spectrum. I would have enjoyed it more if it had contained a much more balanced tone. I believe this is the second book they have co-authored, and my memory tells me that their first effort suffered from the same unnecessary slanting in their verbiage.

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Overall I enjoyed this book (even the acknowledgments). The authors give a careful background to set the stage for what is to come. After the book goes through the background, which is essential to the story) the book takes off like a rocket. I really couldn’t put the book down. I felt that all of the authors’ points are well referenced and supported. The discussion of how we got here is second to none. To me, the book had only one real weakness, and that was that it got off to a slow start with a detailed discussion and too many examples. It was fascinating but information-dense. But once the groundwork was laid, this was the best discussion of this type of material that I’ve read. Not only do I feel that this book is worth reading, I consider it a must-read. Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the advance reader copy.

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I could write forever about how interesting and informative this book was! The depth of research, and the writing skills of the authors shines, on every page. A deep dive on this topic could have proven to be tedious, but Oreskes and Conway make the material as engaging as it is educational.

The pathway charted through history through the looking glass of “the market” was enlightening on many levels. The narrative starts with child labor laws (the arguments supporting child labor mirror far too closely the arguments supporting today’s topics of homo/transphobia), moves through the ways that Christianity had to evolve out of socialism (how can we scare people into believing in our doctrine if security comes from somewhere else?) and wraps up with how Reagan really got the ball rolling on modern capitalism’s ethos of only helping the five guys at the top.

The number of times I would read a line and exclaim “that actually explains so much!” cannot be overstated. The historical, economic and political knowledge gained by reading this book is vital to understanding the current political rifts over business vs. actual people. I am absolutely adding these author’s other books to my “Pre-2024 Election Reading List.”

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