Freedom From the Market: America’s Fight to Liberate Itself from the Grip of the Invisible Hand

Mike Konczal

Jan 2021 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Mike Lenz

About this audiobook

Health insurance, student loan debt, retirement savings, child care, work-life balance, access to home ownership-these are the issues driving America's current political debates. And they are all linked, as this brilliant and timely book reveals, by a single question: should we allow the free market to determine our lives? In the tradition of Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine, noted economic commentator Mike Konczal answers this question with a resounding no. Freedom from the Market blends passionate political argument and a bold new take on American history to reveal that, from the earliest days of the republic, Americans have defined freedom as what we keep free from the control of the market. With chapters on the history of Homestead Act and land ownership, the eight-hour work day and free time, social insurance and Social Security, World War II day cares, Medicare and desegregation, free public colleges, intellectual property, and the public corporation, Konczal shows how citizens have fought to ensure that everyone has access to the conditions that make us free. At a time when millions of Americans-and more and more politicians-are questioning the unregulated free market as un-American, Freedom from the Market offers a new narrative, and new intellectual ammunition, for the fight that lies ahead.

About the author

Mike Konczal is a fellow with the Roosevelt Institute, where he researches inequality, the financial sector, and a progressive vision of the economy. He is also a regular contributor to Vox, Dissent Magazine, and the Nation and was a regular contributor to the Washington Post's Wonkblog. He lives in Washington, DC.

Mike Lenz has been an audiobook narrator and voice actor for more than fourteen years. Having narrated titles in genres ranging from fiction, entertainment, science, and children's literature to Christian, business, self-help, and history, Mike loves bringing nonfiction and fiction stories to life.