Premium Only Content

Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism
One economist has called Ha-Joon Chang "the most exciting thinker our profession has turned out in the past fifteen years." With Bad Samaritans, this provocative scholar bursts into the debate on globalization and economic justice.
Using irreverent wit, an engagingly personal style, and a battery of examples, Chang blasts holes in the "World Is Flat" orthodoxy of Thomas Friedman and other liberal economists who argue that only unfettered capitalism and wide-open international trade can lift struggling nations out of poverty. On the contrary, Chang shows, today's economic superpowers-from the U.S. to Britain to his native Korea-all attained prosperity by shameless protectionism and government intervention in industry. We have conveniently forgotten this fact, telling ourselves a fairy tale about the magic of free trade and-via our proxies such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization-ramming policies that suit ourselves down the throat of the developing world.
Unlike typical economists who construct models of how the marketplace should work, Chang examines the past: what has actually happened. His pungently contrarian history demolishes one pillar after another of free-market mythology. We treat patents and copyrights as sacrosanct-but developed our own industries by studiously copying others' technologies. We insist that centrally planned economies stifle growth-but many developing countries had higher GDP growth before they were pressured into deregulating their economies. Both justice and common sense, Chang argues, demand that we reevaluate the policies we force on nations that are struggling to follow in our footsteps.
-
LIVE
The Bubba Army
22 hours agoBURN The FLAG, Go to JAIL! - Bubba the Love Sponge® Show | 8/26/25
2,980 watching -
29:45
DeVory Darkins
16 hours ago $6.21 earnedDemocrat Governor suffers EMBARRASSING LOSS to Trump as ICE takes Garcia into custody
20.3K64 -
LIVE
JuicyJohns
37 minutes ago🟢#1 REBIRTH PLAYER 10.2+ KD🟢
59 watching -
18:22
World2Briggs
20 hours ago $2.63 earnedThe New York Rant: Point Blank With No Fluff or BS. A Warning
11.7K7 -
42:52
The Finance Hub
14 hours ago $3.08 earnedBREAKING: ALINA HABBA JUST SHOCKED THE WORLD!
10.5K23 -
LIVE
BEK TV
23 hours agoTrent Loos in the Morning - 8/26/2025
302 watching -
12:15
Nikko Ortiz
18 hours agoMonday Gun Fails
69.7K15 -
8:19
MattMorseTV
17 hours ago $12.36 earnedTrump is ACTUALLY DOING IT.
68.9K52 -
5:40
Sugar Spun Run
1 day ago $1.13 earnedNutella Brownies
20.3K2 -
8:46
Faith Frontline
17 hours agoBill Maher STUNNED as Charlie Kirk Proves God Exists
22K19