As others have said, Mr. Cowen gives a review of a very distorted version of both Naomi Kline and "Shock Doctrine".
Reader comment on: Shock Jock

Submitted by noel, Nov 17, 2007 02:32

The notion that the U.S. just happened to be around when all of these corporatist coups took place is demonstrably false. They have included the same methods applied by most of the same cold blooded ideologues (Kissinger, Rumsfeld, Cheney, etc.). The high standard of living in the U.S., which has been in decline since Reagan, came about after FDR's "New Deal" was instituted giving rise to the modern middle class and increased levels of democratic process.

While America's economic rise has been due, in part, to plunder by corporations in concert with the U.S. military since the age of the Robber Barons our rise to the pinnacle of democracy and high standard of living for a large percentage of the population has been in spite of this band of hereditary feudal elitists not because of these people who believe that everything belongs to them because they took it by force, coercion, use of teams of lawyers, or other heavy handed means. If left to their own devices the whole world would be one big Auschwitz. Ask Henry Ford or Prescott Bush.

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
Hard to imagine you could write this review if you read the book carefully. No doubt Cowen skimmed the chapters... [MORE]	dopefish	Mar 7, 2008 09:48
It's so obvious that this "economist" did not take an objective viewpoint when analyzing Klein's book. It's so skewed. It... [MORE]	Kirk	Feb 26, 2008 14:20
Crediting "free markets" for the growth of freedom and modernity is like crediting "religion" for women's liberation. Feudalism is the... [MORE]	Uncle Milty	Feb 12, 2008 15:40
No doubt the reader of this review cannot deny the obvious and true arguement made by Cowen, Western economics has... [MORE]	bill	Feb 2, 2008 18:51
Even if you can't balance a checkbook, Naomi's Klein's fast-paced, meticulously sourced history of free trade economics is clear. It's... [MORE]	Peggy	Jan 29, 2008 20:51
To read Cowen's review one would think that Klein was advocating Stalinist economic policies as opposed to a return to... [MORE]	Nick	Jan 28, 2008 00:20
Good review. I wonder if it is not that capitalism requires shock, but any radical institutional change requires a major... [MORE]	Albar	Jan 25, 2008 20:58
Why is it that critiques of Klein's Shock Doctrine, avoid her good points on Iraq. It's probably because she is... [MORE]	Christopher Hutton	Dec 17, 2007 23:34
The United States of America embarked upon a multi pronged "Cold War" after World War II. Part of that Cold... [MORE]	Lawrence Turner	Nov 25, 2007 16:31
The notion that the U.S. just happened to be around when all of these corporatist coups took place is demonstrably...	noel	Nov 17, 2007 02:32
You mention that "New Zealand and Chile abandoned socialistic policies for freer markets because the former weren't working well and... [MORE]	Burton Hodge	Nov 15, 2007 01:49
One man's polemic doesn't offset another's esp. when that other is a talented wordsmith, and also an energetic and attractive... [MORE]	datadave	Nov 10, 2007 00:14
What you fail to realize in your assertion that Klein is indeed attacking the classical liberals, is that she isn't.... [MORE]	Josh	Nov 5, 2007 11:46
1973 - violent overthrow of a democratically elected socialist goverment leading to the mass killings and literally unpeakable torture of... [MORE]	Erik Bloom	Oct 31, 2007 16:55
↔ ". And when Alan Greenspan said during an interview that he fears the populist policies rising in South America -... [MORE]	Cain Adamsson	Nov 5, 2007 05:11
↔	jan willem	Oct 27, 2007 12:44
↔ Mr. Cowen appears unable to muster the strength to argue the facts that he accuses Klein of misrepresenting or oversimplifying.... [MORE]	Douglas Storm	Oct 21, 2007 11:08
↔ I don't think Mr Cowen has read the book with much care. He wouldn't need to 'presume' that Ms Klein... [MORE]	Dick Wolff	Oct 12, 2007 19:12
↔ ↔ I agree, the reviewer has very clearly not read this book. The Shock Doctrine is not a critique of capitalism... [MORE]	Beth	Jan 5, 2008 17:00
↔ ↔	Sammy Radpurtha	Oct 9, 2007 22:44
↔ ↔ "The destruction of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina expelled many poor black residents and allowed most of the city's public... [MORE]	Bumper	Oct 8, 2007 17:59
↔ ↔	mtraven	Oct 6, 2007 13:23
↔ ↔ Cowen appears to believe that if anyone makes a claim about the distribution of resources, they must be held to... [MORE]	Frank	Oct 3, 2007 12:54
↔ ↔ ↔ Frank's observation (see post dated Oct 23, 2007) points to a fundmental econometric flaw. The difference in zero and the... [MORE]	Glen	Jan 17, 2008 07:53
↔ ↔ ↔ The Milton Freedman Katrina Reference is NOT out of 1962 but based on specific suggestions made by Freedman in an... [MORE]	Joey Gilgamesh	Oct 3, 2007 09:25