27 февр. 2013 г.

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

In this groundbreaking alternative history of the most dominant ideo­logy of our time, Milton Friedman's free-market economic revolution, Naomi Klein challenges the popular myth of this movement's peaceful global victory. From Chile in 1973 to Iraq today, Klein shows how Friedman and his followers have repeatedly harnessed terrible shocks and violence to implement their radical policies. As John Gray wrote in The Guardian, "There are very few books that really help us under­stand the present. The Shock Doctrine is one of those books."

The Shock Doctrine follows the application of these ideas through our contemporary history, showing in riveting detail how well-known events of the recent past have been deliberate, active theatres for the shock doctrine, among them: Pinochet’s coup in Chile in 1973, the Falklands War in 1982, the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Asian Financial crisis in 1997 and Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

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На сайте Наоми Кляйн опубликован файл «Letters of correspond­ence between Friedman and dictator Pinochet»

Friedman also met with military dictator President Augusto Pinochet during his visit. He never served as an adviser to the Chilean govern­ment, but did write a letter to Pinochet outlining what Friedman con­sidered the two key economic problems of Chile. The letter listed a series of monetary and fiscal measures deemed a "shock program" to end hyperinflation and promote a market economy.[66] His letter sug­gested (among other, more specific prescriptions) that a brief period of cutting government spending would reduce its fiscal deficit and thus reduce the rate of increase of the quantity of money in the country that was driving inflation. The economist did however admit his know­ledge of Chile was "too limited to enable [him] to be precise or com­prehensive" and that the measures he outlined were "to be taken as illustrative." Friedman felt that there might be a brief period ("meas­ured in months") of higher unemployment, followed by recovery once inflation was tamed. His letter also suggested that cutting spending to reduce the fiscal deficit would result in less transitional unemployment than raising taxes to do so. Later, Friedman said he believed that market reforms would undermine Pinochet.