La Economía del Fraude Inocente

by John Kenneth Galbraith

¿Cómo puede ser inocente el fraude? Nos lo explica John Kenneth Galbraith, uno de los mayores economistas del siglo XX, en este libro, una especie de “testamento intelectual” en el que nos lega una crítica radical de la economía, la política y la moralidad pública de nuestro tiempo. Dice el profesor Galbraith que la distancia entre la realidad y la “sabiduría convencional” nunca había sido tan grande como hoy en día porque el engaño y la falsedad se han hecho endémicos. Tanto los políticos como los medios de comunicación han metabolizado ya los mitos del mercado, como que las grandes corporaciones empresariales trabajan para ofrecer lo mejor para el público, que la economía se estimula si la intervención del Estado es mínima o que las obscenas diferencias salariales y el enriquecimiento de unos pocos son subproductos del sistema que hay que aceptar como males menores. Es decir, que nos hemos rendido totalmente ante el engaño y hemos decidido aceptar el fraude legal, “inocente”. Pero la realidad es que el mercado está sujeto a una gestión que financian y planifican cuidadosamente las grandes corporaciones privadas. Éstas, por otra parte, ni están al servicio del consumidor ni las controlan sus accionistas, sino los altos ejecutivos, que han desarrollado una compacta burocracia corporativa responsable de escándalos financieros como los de Enron, Worldcom o Arthur Andersen. La distinción entre los sectores público y privado cada vez tiene menor sentido, porque son los grandes conglomerados empresariales quienes controlan el gasto militar y el dinero público. Lo que al anciano economista le repugna es la aceptación acrítica de un sistema que retuerce a su gusto la verdad y enaltece la especulación como fruto del ingenio, la economía de libre mercado como antídoto para todos los males del mundo y la guerra como el gran instrumento de la democracia.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, Politics, Business, History, Philosophy, Finance

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

John Kenneth Galbraith was a Canadian-American economist. He was a Keynesian and an institutionalist, a leading proponent of 20th-century American liberalism and democratic socialism. His books on economic topics were bestsellers in the 1950s and 1960s. A prolific author, he produced four dozen books & over a 1000 articles on many subjects. Among his most famous works was his economics trilogy: American Capitalism (1952), The Affluent Society (1958) & The New Industrial State (1967). He taught at Harvard University for many years. He was active in politics, serving in the administrations of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson. He served as US Ambassador to India under John F. Kennedy.

He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice: one in 1946 from President Truman, and another in 2000 from President Clinton. He was also awarded the Order of Canada in 1997, and in 2001, the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, for strengthening ties between India and the USA.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

The contrast between corporations and citizens in influencing government is looked at in this timely book. Over the past several years this contrast has continued to widen; I fear it will continue to do so as we get closer to bringing to light the vast amount of money needed to run for office in America.

[Amin · Rating 3 out of 5]

"فارسی در ادامه"

The general idea of addressing "innocent frauds" in the modern world is quite interesting. He challenges the distinctions between corporate management/bureaucracies, capitalism/corporatism, public/private sectors, shift of power from shareholders to managers and their self-compensation among the others.

One main flaw is the focus on the side-effects or dark sides in the existence of the main pillars of current political and economic systems, without enough elaboration on their "raison d'etre"; except for the case of corporations and their contribution to organizing modern economic activities. In this respect, this book reminds me the recent works of Chomsky Noam such as Because We Say So.

ایده اصلی کتاب و صورت بندی حیله گری هایی که در دنیای تکنولوژیک با ظاهری آراسته خودشان را نشان میدهند، جالب بود. یعنی گالبرایت بحث می کند که برخی از مهمترین عناصر سیاسی و اقتصادی دنیای مدرن به خاطر ضعف ها و زیانهایشان بدنام شده اند، اما به خاطر اهمیت شان برای صاحبان قدرت تغییر شکل، و تغییر نام، داده اند و دوباره به صحنه بازگشته اند. مثلا بوروکراسی تبدیل به مدیریت سازمانی شده یا کاپیتالیسم به شکل کورپوریتیسم درآمده و مثالهایی از این دست. نحوه نقد این نهادها من را یاد نوام چامسکی می اندازد، یعنی بدون بحث در مورد علل وجودی چنین نهادهایی، مستقیم به سراغ تاریک ترین آثار جانبی رفته و از آنها برای زیرسوال بردن ماهیت شان استفاده می کند. در حالیکه به نظرم چنین تحلیلی چندان جامع نیست و خواننده را با سوالات متعدد و مثالهای نقض مواجه میکند که مسلما برایشان در کتاب پاسخی وجود ندارد

[Karim Mattar · Rating 5 out of 5]

اقتصاد الاحتيال البرئ للإقتصادي الأمريكي الكندي جون كينيث جالبريث
جالبريث من أنصار الفكر الكينزي نسبة للإقتصادي جون مينارد كينز
وطالما قولنا كينز يبقي من مؤيدي الفكر الليبرالي الرأسمالي ولكن بشرط وجود دور للدولة في الاقتصاد وإللي عادة يسمي بالدور الرقابي للدولة
جالبريث في الكتاب بتاعه نقدر نقول إنه بيوجه تحذير لو النظام الرأسمالي مستمر بدون أي دور رقابي للدولة "pure capitalism" وإزاي ده هيؤدي لنوع من الفجوة وتغليب المصالح الفردية أو مصالح المؤسسات الاقتصادية الضخمة علي حساب القطاع العام أو عامة الشعب لإنه أساس الفكر الرأسمالي إن المصلحة الفردية قبل أي شئ
- من الأجزاء إللي الكاتب وضحها فكرة العمل وإزاي إنه شئ مقدس في النظام الرأسمالي ولكنه فرق بين "من يعمل" و "من يحصل علي قيمة العمل" وبالتطبيق علي مصر نجد إن العاملين الذين يحصلون علي اجر تمثل ٣٠٪ في حين إن أصحاب حقوق الملكية ٧٠٪ من الناتج المحلي الإجمالي
- برضو الكاتب وضح فكرة القطاعين العام والخاص وسماه بخرافة القطاعين لان في النظام الرأسمالي دايما القطاع الخاص هو اللي مسيطر علي الموارد والخدمات عن طريق فكرة احتكار القلة بمعني لو الدولة هتعمل مناقصة بيتم الاتفاق بين شركات القطاع الخاصة المحتكرة للخدمة المناقصة دي هتروح لمين فيهم وفقا لشروط تخدم مصالح باقي الاطراف
- الكاتب ألقي الضوء علي فكرة الفساد الإداري والمالي خصوصا من جانب المديريين التنفذيين للمؤسسات المالية مع غياب الدور الرقابي ويمكن أكبر مثال علي كدا أزمة الرهن العقاري ٢٠٠٨ في امريكا
- أخيرا الكاتب إتكلم عن دور المجمع الصناعي العسكري في الاقتصاد و ازاي إن بعض الدول بتحاول تنهب موارد دول تانية ( نامية أو عالم ثالث) تحت مسمي الحماية الاقتصادية والعسكرية للدولة واكبر مثال علي كدا ان المجمع الصناعي العسكري الأمريكي كان مهدد بالبطالة بعد الحرب الباردة وإنهيار الاتحاد السوفيتي مع اتفاقيات نزع السلاح فكان لازم الحاجة إلي إشعال حروب أو سيطرة علي دول نامية سياسيا واقتصاديا
أو إن دولة عظمي تحاول تشعل حرب بين دولتين مثلا علشان يتم زيادة الطلب علي الخدمات العسكرية " زي روسيا و أوكرانيا مثلا"

كتاب مهم ينصح به

[مصطفي يحيي · Rating 5 out of 5]

The attitude toward economics and it's applied methods in different communities provided by the author here,is similar in my opinion - with the common trend of the non-monetary economy in some ways: the economy based on fraud and lies and measuring the progress of societies depending on the physical measurement (using the currency) and converting the international economics and politics into a form of colonialism. This is consistent to a large extent, from another angle, with orientation of restructuring the economic system into a non-production cash (enters the home business and social contributions of volunteers and civilian movement .. etc) and I think this approach represents a new revolution .. I believe this such movements has a large part of the right, and we're coming close to the human nature.

[Jayash · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Kenneth Galbraith offers his profound insights into how the U.S. economy functions today, notably the dominant influence of large corporate interests in the process of public decision-making (specifically, in military and environment). In a very concise yet stringent manner, he makes readers think about the prospects of both innocent and not-so-innocent fraudulent cases. Unlike the prominent U.S. capitalists such as Carnegie, Rockefeller and Duke in the nineteenth century, modern corporations enjoy uniformly tacit public approval. He argues that forms of innocent fraud should be at least accepted, if not remedied. His primary argument that economic systems cultivate the tendency among individuals to develop a more convenient version of the truth invites readers to have a vigorous debate on contemporary market economy. Extremely well-written, and highly recommended!

[Mehtap exotiquetv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Galbraiths Kritik richtet sich des vermeintlich freien Marktes und ihre Wirkmechanismen.
In diesem Buch nimmt er dem Leser die Illusion warum freie Marktwirtschaft nicht unbedingt immer frei ist und wer die eigentlichen Profiteure in diesem Markt sind.
Welche Macht haben Konzerne und wie wirken sie in staatsrechtliche Entscheidungen ein? Können sie Kriege provozieren? Und was bedeutet Fortschritt!

Ein kurze aber interessante Kritik!

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can read this short book in an hour, but you’ll be thinking about it for much longer. Galbraith, a man of impeccable credentials, points out some of the unspoken (by mainstream culture) truths of our times:

“The free-market system” is the meaningless replacement term for what capitalism has become, and what should truthfully be called the “corporate system.”
We hide a deep social injustice by referring to two entirely separate things with same word: “work.” Work is used for both the painful life-sapping labor for bare necessities, as well as for the meaningful effort of pursuing ones calling.
It is not the shareholders nor the directors of corporations that control them, it is their management. The consequences of this fact is far-reaching, a small example of which is simply that management gets to set it’s own rate of compensation which amounts to massive legalized theft.
There is no longer such thing as the public and private sectors. What was the public sector is almost entirely controlled by private interests for private benefit.
The idea that the Federal Reserve prevents inflation and helps the economy out of recession by raising or lowering interest rates is and has always been, entirely a fiction.
Foreign policy is dictated by the pecuniary desires of the military industrial complex.
Whether you agree his analysis or not, I’d recommend reading the book. The sad thing is that he says absolutely nothing about how to fix this mess, except by hinting at regulation of some sort, some how, but this after having just explained how the regulators themselves are in on the game.

In Galbraith’s 1975 book Money, whence it came, where it went, he describes perfectly our modern monetary system. Unlike most people, he fully understood money as a human invention. So it would seem surprising that he wouldn’t understand the underlying pattern of all thetruths that he so clearly does see. It’s simply money. None of these patterns will be fixed until we evolve the money itself that is the driving force behind each of those six truths. Check out openmoney.info for more on how and why.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Galbraith wrote this book in 2004 at age 96 or so, so don't expect the fiery wit and rapid fire social observation of his middle age. But what you will find is a deep moral awareness of all that has gone wrong in the present economic scene, with a startingly prescient prediction of our current subprime mess.

There's also a great rationale for being a big tipper:

"Those who most enjoy work . . . are all but universally the best paid. This is accepted. Low wage scales are for those in repetitive, tedious, painful toil. Those who least need compensation for their effort, could best survive without it, are paid the most." (18)

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise book, little more than a pamphlet, but with heavy arguments and a forceful intellect.

Galbraith argues that in modern economies, big business unashamedly and openly conducts fraud and much of the narrative of modern business is a fallacy. In particular he believes that the conventional understanding of a company being run by its shareholders has been untrue for some time. In reality, management are only vaguely accountable to the shareholders and use this autonomy to award themselves larcenous pay and conditions, while managing companies for short-term goals and their own career objectives, rather than to safeguard investors' wealth in the long-term. The complexities of the commercial and financial systems disguise these frauds as competitive business practice, but the reality is that an appointed bureaucracy of managers is running business, without any personal investment in the company other than their own future career prospects. This is distorting the evaluation of risk and undermining the market system.

Galbraith's argument is concise and thoughtful. The credentials of this former New Dealer are impeccable. However, it is hard not to wonder if he may be overpessimistic about the influence of shareholders. Though he identifies a key distortion of power in the market and an important one, he perhaps overstates the calamitous abstraction of management from risk.

[مينا ساهر · Rating 2 out of 5]

الترجمه سيئه للغايه
و بس

[Eng. Mohamed ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

الفكرة وضحت من العنوان ومن اول صفحه ولكن الكاتب ظل خلال صفحات الكتاب يكرر نفس كلامه

[Tony duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is 62 pages long and it is brilliant. When I read this a couple of years ago I gave it to a number of people who call themeselves progressives. None of them were willing to discuss it with me. I don't know if they didn't read it or what. But here is one of the most influential and certainly one of the most broadly educated men of the 2nd half of the 20th century who is very clearly exposing the destructive nature of capitalism in the west.

His book is disconcerting because it pretty much says what I have been saying but in economic turns that everyone is manipulated by the media and the corporate interests. This is the most radical book I have read by a mainstream respected figure from the establishment and it is the last book he wrote. I think it is difficult for progessives to accept that they are just as controlled as everyone else.
Galbraith goes into the psychology of how people decieve themselves into believing they are doing the right things and find myriad ways to rationalize, but they really do know they are fucking people over. He excoriates the media, and just about everyone. But it is not a vicious book by any means. he is just expressing what he has learned over his lifetime in a very matter of fact way.

His thinking is part of this huge basis of research that I have been studying that shows how insane our society is, and how all of us are caught in various self delusiosn that we don't want to admit to. It is extremely easy to read and like all his books very well written.

It has helped me to understand why progressives and liberals have been able to fight against or ignore calls for impeachment, in spite of the overwhelming case for it and the obvious damage done to the constitution and out system of government. And it shows how the left has been pretty well demolished because they are scared to organize because of the culture wide fear of conflict. They would rather go down complaining than look at how to actually work togetherto deal with the real serious problems and organize to build consensus to solve them.

[Coenraad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, apparently written espescially for publication in the Pocket Penguin 70s set, deserves reading and rereading. Galbraith's views, especially about the Federal Reserve Bank's lack of influence in the economy, and the stark difference between economic theory and economic reality, could not have made him a popular figure in the economic sphere. And his controversial statements just keep stacking up. When, in the last two pages, he states: 'Mass slaughter has become the ultimate civilized achievement.' and 'War remains the decisive human failure.' he gains my vote for just about anything else he does or says.

Galbraith se kontroversiële sienings oor die verskil tussen ekonomiese teorieë en ekonomiese werklikhede, wat ook die grens tussen die openbare en privaat sektore bevraagteken, het hom sekerlik nie 'n geliefde figuur gemaak nie. Wanneer hy egter sê: "Massamoord het die hoogste prestasie van die beskawing geword." en: " Oorlog bly die deurslaggewende menslike mislukking.", wen hy byna onvoorwaardelik my stem.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading JK Galbraith. I heard him speak once when I was at university. He was well into his 80's by then and completely deaf so the question and answer session was a bit of a shambles. When he was speaking however he was witty, forthright, compassionate and provocative.

Whether you agree with this book or not it is really enjoyable. For those on the left of politics it is a succinct summary of that is wrong in our current capitalist system. Those on the right will find it provocative but I'd argue that all his arguments demand a response; they can't simply be dismissed.

A great starting point for any debate on capitalism.

[omar ghannam · Rating 3 out of 5]

الى كل من قرا الكتاب واعجبه انصحك بقرائة كتاب "الاغتيال الاقتصادى" لجون بيركنز , الكتاب رائع ومبسط وينم عن عقلية كبيرة ونظرة خبير ولكنه يناقش قضية محدودة نوعا ما تتعلق بالكوربوريشن بالاضافة الى ان الترجمة قللت من تقيمى للكتاب
انصح بقرائته بالانجليزية لمن يستطيع

[Ahmed Elkamhawi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read it in Arabic, this man was a genius

[Steve Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can think of no higher praise than to say that I read this book on economics during a night shift and it did not send me to sleep!

[Márcio · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/5

[Dennis Littrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of this is not so innocent

This book is a 62-page essay on fraudulent aspects of the current economic and political reality in the United States as seen by an illustrious economist and one of the most influential men of our time. Noteworthy is the fact that John Kenneth Galbraith was 95-years old when he wrote this a year ago. Judging from the wisdom and clarity of his expression, I can only say (to recall a line from a Meg Ryan movie, if you will): "I'll have what he's having."

I identified ten "frauds" as I was reading, but I think I may have missed one or two. Before I list them and comment, let me quote the last line in the book because I think it is important: "War remains the decisive failure."

Why Galbraith chose the word "decisive" is something of a puzzle. Decisive for what or for whom? Is he implying some sort of "decision" as regards humankind? Does he think we are going the way of the dodos? For myself it is clear that unless the war system is ended, most human beings will never progress beyond a tribal mentality, and will continue to suffer what Galbraith calls "death and random cruelty, [and the] suspension of civilized values..." (p. 62)

The "innocent" frauds that Galbraith calls to our attention are actually not all that innocent. What he means by "innocent" is that for the perpetrators, there is "no sense of guilt or responsibility" as though the fraudulent were children. Indeed from the perspective of Professor Galbraith's extensive experience and learning, many of the people who run our economies and our political systems are children. At any rate, there is a somewhat lofty and even grandfatherly tone to this treatise.

The first "fraud" is the use of the euphemistic "market economy" instead of the slightly stained "capitalism" to describe the present economic system. (By the way, Galbraith does not number his frauds. I do it for the sake of keeping them straight in my mind.)

The second is the fact that in the modern corporation, ownership--that is, the stockholders--have little to no authority while the professional managers call all the shots including setting their own compensation (fraud #7). Galbraith attributes this to the fact that corporations have become so vast and complex that the relatively unsophisticated ownership cannot really understand how to run the enterprise and so must yield to management.

Fraud number three is one that interests me a lot. Galbraith writes, "Reference to the market system as a benign alternative to capitalism is a bland, meaningless disguise of the deeper corporate reality--of producer power extending to influence over, even control of, consumer demand." (p. 7) This really is one of the most pressing problems of our time because the corporate power, through its ability to influence and control its legions of employees and the media, also has "influence over, even control of" who runs for office and who is elected in national and state governments. Indeed, in fraud #8 Galbraith notes that "A large, vital and expanding part of what is called the public sector is for all practical effect in the private sector." (p. 34) He specifically identifies the "defense" industry as being largely controlled by defense contractors in the private sector. Elsewhere in the essay, Galbraith refers to "the control of consumer choice and sovereignty" indicating that he understands that the control extends to the electorate. (p. 13)

Fraud number four is the way we hypocritically value "work." For some it is toil and for others it is a pleasure and indeed largely the reason for living, and yet how differently we are compensated, with those who need it least often getting the most in financial reward.

Fraud five refers to the corporate bureaucracy. While corporate people sneer at government agencies as being bureaucratic, large corporations have become just as bloated or even more so. (Chapter V: "The Corporation as Bureaucracy.")

Fraud #6 is the phony celebration of small businesses and family farms in the political rhetoric. Galbraith comments, "For the small retailer, Wal-Mart awaits. For the family farm, there are the massive grain and fruit enterprise and the modern large-scale meat producer." (p. 25)

Fraud #9 (I've mentioned numbers 7 and 8 above) is the fraud of economic predictions. Galbraith observes: "The financial world sustains a large, active, well-rewarded community based on compelled but seemingly sophisticated ignorance" (i.e., stockbrokers, stock analysts and other financial prognosticators). He adds, "...those...who tell of the future financial performance of an industry or firm, given the unpredictable but controlling influence of the larger economy, do not know and normally do not know that they do not know." (p. 40)

Finally there is the quaint fraud of the actions of the Federal Reserve Board, which Galbraith claims have no real effect on the economy.

For an interesting book on the corporation as a psychopathic entity (yes, psychopathic) see, The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power by Joel Bakan. In fact Galbraith should read this book. It would further part of his thesis.

In part this modest book is a succinct warning about how corporations are becoming more and more powerful as they gain greater and greater control over our lives. Perhaps what Galbraith is saying in his laconic way is that there is a very real danger that bit by bit we are on the way to a nation controlled not by a democratic electorate or even by republican checks and balances, but by an oligarchy of corporate power.

--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”

[Jamey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Twelve little chapters. The last two were important and hard-hitting; in comparison, the previous ten were repetitive, obvious, and rather breezy. The book is marked by one particular stylistic quirk that I found both baffling and irritating. When it is time to say “There is a fence here,” the author instead says: “Here a fence.” He does this maybe a hundred times in this very slim volume. Odd.

[Abolfazl Fattahi · Rating 2 out of 5]

در طول قرن‌ها، تمدن در زمینه علم، مراقبت بهداشتی، هنرها، صنایع و ... اگر نه به تمامی، رفاه اقتصادی بیشتر قدم‌های بسیار بلندی برداشته است. اما جایگاه خاصی را به توسعه جنگ افزارها و تهدید و واقعیت جنگ اختصاص داده است. کشتار دسته‌جمعی بدل به دست آورد غایی مدنیت شده است.

واقعیت‌های جنگ گریزناپذیرند، مرگ و بی‌رحمی گاه و بی‌گاه، تعلیق ارزش‌های فرهیختگی و تمدنی و آشفتگی بعد از آن. به این ترتیب، شرایط بشر و آینده‌اش از هم اکنون کاملا آشکار است. با اندیشه و عمل می‌توان به مسائل اقتصادی و اجتماعی که در این جا مطرح شد و نیز فقر و گرسنگی توده‌ها پرداخت، جنگ همچنان به عنوان شکست قطعی بشر به جا می ماند.

این کتاب نوشته جان کنت گلبرایت و ترجمه کاظم فرهادی هست که انتشارات نی اون رو چاپ کرده، به نظرم کتاب بدی نبود ولی خیلی ترجمه و ویراستاری افتضاحی داشت، انگار اصلا برای کتاب وقت نذاشته بودن.

 «کارگران آنچه را که به دست می‌آورند خرج می‌کنند، سرمایه‌داران آنچه را که خرج می‌کنند به دست می‌آورند.»

میخال کالتسکی

[Ingy · Rating 2 out of 5]

ترجمة سيئة جدا، اما الكتاب نفسه جيد، يكشف عن الوجه القبيح للرأسمالية حيث هيمنة الشركات العملافة على الاقتصاد وتحكمها في كل الخيوط سواء فيما يتعلق باستمالة المستهلكين او بالتحكم في مراكز صنع القرار في الدولة، ويعطي الكاتب الامثلة على ذلك في الولايات المتحدة الامريكية على وجه الخصوص حيث عاش وعمل في عدة اماكن قريبة من مراكز صنع القرار الاقتصادي.

[James Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The section on the ideological uses of the word 'work' is especially useful.

[Basem · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب لطيف رغم مشاكل الترجمه او بالتحديد مشاكل الصياغه للغه العربيه...

[Nada R · Rating 1 out of 5]

أنا واثقه ان الكتاب حلو جدا بقدر ثقتي ان المترجم تعليم صرف صحي !
يا اما كان بيترجم برجليه -_-
اخدت وقت كبير جدا علشان اجمع كلام مفيد جمب بعضه

[Zacharycbruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Packs a lot of punch in it's 50-odd small pages. I've read quite a number of economics books lately, and have just recently started my ECON101 class at university. Very early on I got a sense that all was not right.

Galbraith looks at several issues here. A major theme being an argument against the "market system", which he instead calls "the Corporate system". He explains the great power and influence that corporate managers now hold; rather than the owners of capital (shareholders), the board of directors (amenable to management) or the (mythical) sovereign consumer.
He touches briefly on the manufacturing of consumer desires through advertising, something most of us are aware of but is generally ignored in conventional economics (the sovereign, rational consumer may not be so rational or sovereign)
In "A myth of two sectors" he outlines the many ways that the public and private sectors merge; the private sector having ever increasing influence over public policy and spending. He talks largely about the military; invoking Eisenhowers "military-industrial complex".
In "The elegant escape from reality" he takes aim at the Federal Reserve, and specifically Alan Greenspan. His general theme is that we can neither predict nor control the unknowable i.e. the wider economy, and that attempts to influence the economy are largely ineffectual. This seems quite prescient, given this was published in (I believe) 2004, and what is now history has shown that despite the seemingly impeccable management of the economy by Greenspan and co. the whole things came crashing down anyway. And many governments and central banks could do, more or less, diddly squat about it; either at the time or to speed recovery.
He also questions GDP as a measure of progress. This is a topic that I've read about before; I was particularly impressed with my first introduction to its shortcomings in Ha Joon Changs "Economics; A User's Guide."
A common thread throughout the book is an attack on the rhetoric that economists, corporations, politicians and others use to obscure what is really going on.

I've been actively seeking out books that fly in the face of conventional economic wisdom (I'm aware that Galbraith coined the term "conventional wisdom"), because I have a sense that economics could be a very powerful tool to both understand and form our world; but also that the current mainstream version (such as that taught at my university) leaves a lot to be desired. I feel I can't accept much of what is taught on face value, and so want to continue to broaden my perspective and remain critical and perhaps cynical. However tempting it is to just parrot what I am taught in order to receive good grades (although no doubt I can do that when necessary too).

I enjoyed this short, sharp introduction to Galbraith, and it has impressed me sufficiently that I ordered the Libary of America volume that contains, "The Affluent Society","The New Industrial Estate", "American Capitalism" and "The Great Crash". I eagerly await it's arrival.

[John Defrog: global citizen, local gadfly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up partly because it was dirt cheap (as part of a charity sale), and partly because I read and liked John Kenneth Galbraith’s The Great Crash of 1929 a few years back. This is Galbraith’s final book before he passed away in 2006 – a 62-page essay that is essentially a summary of his previously stated views on economic life circa 2004. In essence, Galbraith maintains that proper capitalism has long been replaced by a market economy in which corporate bureaucracies rule with power that is not held in check by sufficient regulation, consumer sovereignty or even the actual owners, and that most of the tenets of what politicians, Wall Street and the business press routinely laud as free-market capitalism – the invisible hand, market forces, the clear division between the private and public sector, etc – amount to a revered mythology that is nowhere close to reality. Galbraith describes this as “innocent fraud” – with tongue planted firmly in cheek, as he notes the degree of “innocence" regarding certain practices varies.

Obviously, what you make of this will likely depend in part on your current political affiliation and the degree to which you subscribe to the very mythology Galbraith criticizes. Personally – and as someone who (1) knows very little about economics and (2) considers himself more or less a centrist – I think he’s not wrong, for the most part. Hindsight goes a long way here – Galbraith wrote this just after Enron happened but before the 2008 economic meltdown, the root cause of which seems to retroactively validate a lot of Galbraith’s criticisms.

Where the book goes wrong – and the reason I’m not giving it more stars – is that Galbraith’s whimsically staccato writing style makes it a lot harder to read than is arguably necessary, even for a Harvard intellectual. Also, Galbraith offers little to back up most of his observations – it’s as though he felt his own career, experience and reputation as an economist to be all the empirical evidence you need that he’s right. It doesn’t mean he’s wrong, necessarily – but if you’re going to declare “conventional wisdom” a fraud (innocent or otherwise), it’s usually advisable to provide evidence to back your case.

[Omri Reis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite economics book. In one, short, single volume JKG deconstructs the entire financial system, and does this beautifully and methodically. Galbraith uses the oxymoron "innocent fraud" (which in itself is brilliant) to show how powerful misconceptions about money and economics are embedded in our language and in the financial system. Just a few of these myths are the distinctions between the "private" and "public" sector, the way management decisions stir a company more than the decisions of its board of directors, the way "consumer choice" and "consumer sovereignty" are taken as a given rule that governs the market, and more and more. JKG's writing is amazing - clear, eloquent and laser-sharp. This is the perfect book to give to anyone who is into economics or business since it will not only transform their thinking, but also give them a very clear picture of how our global economic system is actually run, and how these "innocent frauds" are so intrinsic to its success.

[JEAN-PHILIPPE PEROL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six ans après, et le crash de 2008 derrière nous, ce petit livre se révèle encore plus visionnaire. En dénonçant les mensonges du système économique actuel, le capitalisme de façade qui a retiré le pouvoir aux actionnaires pour le donner aux dirigeants, le pouvoir du complexe militaro-industriel qui a pratiquement privatisé la défense, l'impuissance construite de la FED, l'absolue prédominance du financier sur le productif, et le culte du PIB matériel aux dépends des valeurs humanistes, il définit à la fois les maux de notre système social et les pistes autour desquelles il faut reconstruire l'avenir.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Galbraith, the celebrated Harvard economist, expands upon his concept of conventional wisdom to show other ways which most of us accept what isn't true and are blind to reality. He does it in 60 pages of somewhat whimsical text. It is his last testament as he died shortly after its publication.

Naturally his theme is economic distortions that we accept as inevitable because we have come to believe the conventional wisdom rather than the myths of democracy and the hold that corporate managers have over the lives we lead.