The Big Myth

"A carefully researched work of intellectual history, and an urgently needed political analysis." —Jane Mayer
"[A] scorching indictment of free market fundamentalism … and how we can change, before it's too late."-Esquire, Best Books of Winter 2023
The bestselling authors of Merchants of Doubt offer a profound, startling history of one of America's most tenacious—and destructive—false ideas: the myth of the "free market."

In their bestselling book Merchants of Doubt, Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway revealed the origins of climate change denial. Now, they unfold the truth about another disastrous dogma: the "magic of the marketplace."

In the early 20th century, business elites, trade associations, wealthy powerbrokers, and media allies set out to build a new American orthodoxy: down with "big government" and up with unfettered markets. With startling archival evidence, Oreskes…