Galbraith opens his book by making the case for a number of conservative shibboleths (free markets, tax cuts, and even balanced budgets) as belonging to the realm of mythology, rather than reality-based policy. Some of his discussion in this section raises questions that don't get answered until later in the book.

He goes on to examine the rise of inequality in the American economy and the development of what he calls the Predator State: a coalition of interests that want to maximize short-term profit at the long-term expense of widespread prosperity. This section gives useful perspective on many big issues on Capitol Hill.

The final section is a discussion of solutions; as such, it is a starting point rather than a source of detailed policies. Galbraith points out a number of policy mechanisms that could be used to better make the American economy serve the American people. This section is full of useful seeds, but it will require more work to develop it into detailed proposals.

Overall, a well-worthwhile chance to get perspective on the contentious policy debates in American politics, and a good book to bring out when someone asks if liberals have any "new ideas". ( )

Galbraith presents a convincing argument and historical narrative of how policy makers have gradually come to recognize the bankruptcy of traditional tenets of economic conservativism, while still paying lip service to the idea of the "free market." Definitely worth reading -- at very least you'll get a better perspective on US economic history from the 60s on.

My only pseudo-criticism is that I wish the idea of the "predator state" had been both introduced earlier and developed further. There needed to be just a bit more political economy on how conservatives have cynically manipulated the economy and governmental regulation thereof to enrich themselves and their fellow elites. This has been done very well elsewhere (see Naomi Klein's Disaster Capitalism) so perhaps Galbraith felt less of a need to go into great depth on this topic. ( )

I have almost no background in economics, and little understanding of it. My interest in it has increased with my interest in politics. To understand it better, I've tried finding someone knowledgeable that I trust, and the first economist who served this purpose for me is Paul Krugman, economist and columnist in the New York Times.

I also like the work of James K. Galbraith's brother, Peter Galbraith, whose book The End of Iraq is excellent. So I was prepared to take a chance on James Galbraith's The Predator State, which is supposed to be written for the layperson.

Now I've read it, and have to admit there's a lot in it I don't understand. He also turns a lot of conventional wisdom (at least as I perceive it) on its head, saying, for example, that deficits aren't all bad. I better understand it when he says free markets are a myth - it seems to me they are always acted upon by a variety of forces that mean they do not have perfect freedom.

Galbraith explains how we got to the predator state, in which the interests of a narrow band of rampant capitalists with no checks on their power have taken over government for their benefit during the Bush administration. He does, however, think it is possible to take back the state (and he does say that there are many business people for whom the predator capitalists are anathema). His discussions of the predator state also interest me because it provides someone with a legitimate academic background whose discussion supports much of what was said in Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine.

Galbraith thinks the way out of the current economic mess is a planned economy in which spending to create environmental jobs is more important than paying down the deficit.

Sadly, I can't explain well what he says, but did find his arguments pretty convincing. This is a book that I want the next President to take with him to the White House, and so I am encouraged to see that, on a web site Economists for Obama, Galbraith is listed as an economic adviser to Barack Obama.

Read it for yourself in order to get an idea of how we got to where we are and how we can get out of the current mess. ( )