A great explanation of how neoliberals and free market evangelists actually use the government and make it bigger and more confusing to accomplish their goals rather than actually wanting small government.

Mehrsa Baradaran does not hold back on the impact that neoliberalism has had on American citizens. "Looting" seemed a strong word when I read the title for the first time, but that is exactly her argument. This neoliberal philosophy was not something that elite policymakers and influential people developed on a whim, nor was it grounded in deep philosophical underpinnings. Instead, it was a way in which they were able to grab more of the economic/financial pie and leave others in their wake. It was deliberate, but also sold to the masses in the biggest con in American political history.

She provides what I think is the best description of neoliberalism that I have read lately; furthermore, it is accessible to readers who may not have as great of background in all of the political philosophy that others assume. She does a great job of writing for a larger audience.

Her book takes us from its conception in the Nixon era (with Alan Greenspan having a key role) through the 2008 financial crisis and Trump's presidency. She disagrees that Trump should be seen as the anti-neoliberal; instead, he is another form of it. He represents its pure and unvarnished form in all of its racial antagonisms and economic goals. She admits at the end that it will require innovation and risk-taking to break out of the neoliberal chokehold we have put ourselves in, but that it will be worth it. She seems to have some ideas up her sleeves for the future.

I wasn't quite sure who she was writing for, initially. It seemed that she was keeping her ideas in her own ideological bubble. Maybe there'd be some conservatives who don't understand who pick it up who think it's another Biden basher, but they'd put it down rather quickly when they realize it's not. Other people might begin reading and think "interesting, but tell me something I ultimately don't know." It became clear that this book was to set up something bigger, an alternative, and I am interested to see where she takes all of this next. If a few people can have a big enough impact to begin this idea and help it become ingrained into America, maybe it only needs to take a small amount to start its dismantling.