From the Salon.com blog, "How The World Works" by Andrew Leonard:
A fresh new dawn for trust-busters:
"... The news that the Obama administration is planning to invigorate antitrust enforcement couldn't have come at a better time for Reback, whose new book (publication date, April 16!) "Free the Market: Why Only Government Can Keep the Marketplace Competitive" is a primer in the politics of antitrust over the past century, with special attention to the Reagan Revolution's profound impact on government enthusiasm for enforcement. After reading my post "The Great Crash of the 'Chicago School' of Economics" Reback sent me a copy, telling me that "It's right up your alley."
Yup. From the opening page:
"Toxic assets" didn't fell the nation's economy. A toxic philosophy did. Thousands of people lost their homes, tens of thousands their jobs, and even more their retirement savings because of a stupefyingly naive belief in markets that self-regulate with minimal government supervision.
Actually, Gary, I think that should be: Hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes and millions lost their jobs... But why quibble?..."
For the rest of the article, click here.
" Gary Reback offers a powerful defense for government's role in protecting market competition. He draws from rich historical examples and his own extraordinary personal vantage point: his victories and defeats at the front lines of the most high-profile antitrust cases of the past two decades." -- Jonathan Zittrain, professor of law, Harvard Law School
"Free the Market will serve as the manifesto for a new approach to governing business. The recent past demonstrates that harnessing greed for the greater good takes a diligent and enlightened government with an effective but soft- handed regulation. Reback's tales from the front line engage the reader in a much-needed change of mind-set." -- Randy Komisar, partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and a consulting professor at Stanton University
