The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine advances a truly unnerving argument: historically, while people were reeling from natural disasters, wars and economic upheavals, savvy politicians and industry leaders nefariously implemented policies that would never have passed during less muddled times. As Klein demonstrates, this reprehensible game of bait-and-switch isn't just some relic from the bad old days. It's alive and well in contemporary society, and coming soon to a disaster area near you.

"At the most chaotic juncture in Iraq'' civil war, a new law is unveiled that will allow Shell and BP to claim the country's vast oil reserves… Immediately following September 11, the Bush Administration quietly outsources the running of the 'War on Terror' to Halliburton and Blackwater… After a tsunami wipes out the coasts of Southeast Asia, the pristine beaches are auctioned off to tourist resorts… New Orleans residents, scattered from Hurricane Katrina, discover that their public housing, hospitals and schools will never be re-opened." Klein not only kicks butt, she names names, notably economist Milton Friedman and his radical Chicago School of the 1950s and 60s which she notes "produced many of the leading neo-conservative and neo-liberal thinkers whose influence is still profound in Washington today." Stand up and take a bow, Donald Rumsfeld.

There's little doubt Klein's book--which arrived to enormous attention and fanfare thanks to her previous missive, the best-selling No Logo, will stir the ire of the right and corporate America. It's also true that Klein's assertions are coherent, comprehensively researched and footnoted, and she makes a very credible case. Even if the world isn't going to hell in a hand-basket just yet, it's nice to know a sharp customer like Klein is bearing witness to the backroom machinations of government and industry in times of turmoil. --Kim Hughes

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Customer Reviews:
I'd give it 0 stars if I could
This book is more of a political mouthpiece than something to be taken seriously. Klein's claims in the book are so outrageous that I think even the most staunch liberal would have a hard time believing it. The most "shocking" thing in her book is when she goes on to blame Milton Friedman for corporatism, and various problems within the global economy, while ignoring anything that Friedman himself has actually said, or that he was totally against the Iraqi war.

Let's review some facts, which I think Mrs. Klein seems to have left from her book. Who said this great quote that seems to agree with the author about war: "War is a friend of the state.... In time of war, government will take powers and do things that it would not ordinarily do."...why it was Milton Friedman, on the Iraqi war, warning of the government imperialism.

How about this one? "Business corporations in general are not defenders of free enterprise. On the contrary, they are one of the chief sources of danger.... Every businessman is in favor of freedom for everybody else, but when it comes to himself that's a different." That was Milton Friedman again...

I'm surprised the author didn't propose bringing back the draft, which Friedman was opposed to, or better yet say he was for the draft. This book is a shock doctrine indeed, in that it's a shock people would actually believe the garbage spewing from Naomi Klein's finger tips.

If you are serious about economics, don't bother to read this book, it's more of a comedic piece on political bias than an ode to any sort of economic reasoning.

narrow mindedness dressed up as sophistication, Agendas dressed as facts, facts dressed as questions. Seriously?
Without getting into too many details, this is made of much blabber that sums up to poor and baseless arguments. The author consistently fails to understand the essence of the parties for which she argues, thus removing any premise or merit from her theories before even making her argument.
This is narrow mindedness dressed up as a broad sophisticated outlook on the organizations running our world.

If you are a shallow person who hope to gain an effortless broad perspective and a smart suit by reading the works of a writer that is full of agendas and does poor research and understanding of facts; look no further. Otherwise, don't waste your time - Freakonomics would give you better perspective than this garbage. I kid you not.

A Capitalist's Nightmare
I have always been a fan of Klein's work for the Nation, and by reading "The Shock Doctrine," I have concluded that Klein should be considered the leading economic authority of the late 20th and early 21st century. "The Shock Doctrine" exposes the true nature of capitalism: a "policy that breeds poverty and crime."

What is the Shock Doctrine?
According to Klein, the doctrine refers to the notion that governments (mostly the U.S. but also other developed nations) use natural disasters, wars, and coups that shock people, to pass and permanently instill economic reforms that widely disrupt the nation's economy.

What economic reforms are implemented?
The basic reforms that are passed, by the IMF/World Bank/U.S. Treasury, during the time of shock are referred to as policies stemming from the Chicago School of Economics (Reaganomics) made famous by Milton Friedman. This is the belief that if the market is left alone without government intervention, the precise number of products with exactly the right prices would be produced by precisely the correct number of workers paid by exactly the right amount of wages.

What Klein proves is this is absolutely absurd. The Structural Adjustment Programs (elimination of government subsidies, elimination of price controls, massive privatization of all publicly owned goods, etc.) forced on a nation receiving a loan from the IMF actually cause the nation's economy to spiral downwards, which include a huge increase in unemployment, a drastic reduction of real wages, skyrocketing inflation, crackdown on dissidents, etc.

Klein shows this has occurred in Chile under Pinochet, Bolivia, Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Russia, Poland, China, South Africa and New Orleans. Klein also writes of how once the Iraq war was begun, contracts were provided to top level government officials in order for their companies to reap massive profits. (Ex: Dick Cheney-Halliburton; Donald Rumsfeld-Pharmaceutical companies with patents on the Avain Flu vaccine, AIDS medicine, NutraSweet.)

In all, the book is amazing. Klein's incredible primary sources, which include an interview with Jeffrey Sachs and first hand accounts in Iraq and South Africa provide much authenticity and reliability to the book. The book is much more than what I have previously stated in paragraphs above. The Shock Doctrine truly exposes the harshness and brutality of disaster capitalism.

Interesting, yet long-winded at times.
While I appreciate Naomi Klein's thorough authorship of this very interesting topic, I feel as if the book repeats the same basic issue repeatedly to drive home a point that the reader becomes fairly convinced of by the middle of the book. Some of the case studies are especially interesting, such as Chile, Russia, and Iraq, but I almost felt as if some of the other examples were superfluous for proving the main point of the book - that crisis of many kinds can be taken advantage of to push through extremely unpopular free market reforms that harm the populace of the country that it is imposed upon. Additionally, I felt that Ms. Klein too often made the tenuous link between actual shock torture and the "shock doctrine" of economics to drive a point home. I realize why it is included, but to me it seems to serve as almost a cheap, well, shock tactic. All in all, however, the book supports its hypothesis with ease and is very well written. I would suggest it to anyone.

History in Your Face
Naomi Klien's book is a historical account of meddling as an art form.
She describes the monied interests' alignment with power for the past forty or so years.
What you learn is that we all lie to ourselves and others but behind our lies is often naked greed and self-interest.
Anyone who ignores this book ignores America's past and fails to learn some of the most important lessons of failed foreign policy.

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