Naomi Klein - The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Pros: compelling argument, great range of facts and sources, presents economic theories without overburdening
Cons: none

Naomi Klein is a powerfully passionate investigative journalist whose work, "The Shock Doctrine," issues forth a wellspring of masterpiece content. Unapologetic and forthright, Klein criticizes the development of a disaster management segment in our ...

Pros: Narrative easy to read, examination of free markets at the personal level.
Cons: Her examination of Russia's failures has been argued, so be sure to look that up.

Little has been written in the past 25 years that provided such a thorough critique of free market failures as this particular book. Chronicling the first experiments in South America in the 70s and following it through Russia, Poland, China ...

Pros: Articulate, passionate, informative and detailed
Cons: It deals with very grim issues and isn't for the faint hearted

I came across this book sitting on the shelves of my local bookshop late last year. I bought this book as a result of recommendations from both people I know and from glowing written feedback I had read. Unfortunately due to the plethora of other books I ...

Pros: Raises an interesting question.
Cons: Doesn't address it in an intellectually honest fashion.

Is it "fair game" to turn a recently deceased scholar into a symbol, to quote him out of context and use this deliberate misreading as the foundation for an entire book, and to make up fanciful connections between normative economics and political repression--connections contra the positions of the economists themselves--when convenient?

I say, "no", and thus would see The Shock Doctrine as the most major "popular" bit of academic misconduct since Michael Bellesisles's Arming America, were Klein an academic. Klein is not an academic, but that doesn't mean I will hold her to lesser intellectual or ethical standards.

See Tyler Cowen's review and Johan Norberg's whitepaper concerning this book before you buy it. Crisis precipitates change, and the ideas lying around influence that change. Big deal. That's no evidence for the existence of a conspiracy, nor justification for slandering Milton Friedman.