326. Naomi Oreskes — The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market

<p>Shermer and Oreskes discuss: the myth of market magic • market fundamentalism • market absolutism • market essentialism • capitalism and democracy • well-regulated vs. poorly regulated capitalism • U.S. Constitution and capitalism • what the founding fathers believed about markets • what Adam Smith really said about markets and capitalism and how economists rewrote Adam Smith • why markets need regulation in the same way sports need rules and referees • rhetorical fallacies of market fundamentalists • child labor laws • bank failures • Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 • Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman • religion and capitalism • think tanks • collective action problems.</p> <p>Naomi Oreskes is Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University. Her opinion pieces have appeared in the <em>New York Times</em>, the <em>Washington Post</em>, the <em>Los Angeles Times</em>, and many other outlets. Her TED talk, “Why We Should Trust Scientists,” was viewed more than a million times. Erik M. Conway is a historian of science and technology and works for the California Institute of Technology. He is the author of seven books and dozens of articles and essays. Their new book is <em>The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market</em>.</p>