One Market Under God : Extreme Capitalism, Market Populism and the End of Economic Democracy

At no other moment in history have the values of business and the corporation been more nakedly and arrogantly in the ascendant. Combining popular intellectual history with a survey of recent business culture, Thomas Frank traces an idea he calls ‘market populism’ – the notion that markets are, in some transcendent way, identifiable with democracy and the will of the people. The idea that any criticism of things as they are is elitist can be seen in management literature, where downsizing and ceaseless, chaotic change are celebrated as victories for democracy; in advertising, where an endless array of brands seek to position themselves as symbols of authenticity and rebellion; on Wall street, where the stock market is identified as the domain of the small investor and common man; and, in the right-wing politics of the 1990s and the popular theories of Tom Peters, Charles Handy and Thomas Friedman. “One Market Under God” is Frank’s counterattack against the onslaught of market propaganda. Mounted with the weapons of common sense, it is lucid and tinged with anger, betrayal and a certain hope for the future.