Freedom to Harm: The Lasting Legacy of the Laissez Faire Revival

Description

How much economic freedom is a good thing?   This book tells the story of how the business community, and the trade associations and think tanks that it created, launched three powerful assaults during the last quarter of the twentieth century on the federal regulatory system and the state civil justice system to accomplish a revival of the laissez faire political economy that dominated Gilded Age America.  Although the consequences of these assaults became painfully apparent in a confluence of crises during the early twenty-first century, the patch-and-repair fixes that Congress and the Obama administration put into place did little to change the underlying laissez faire ideology and practice that continues to dominate the American political economy.  In anticipation of the next confluence of crises, Thomas McGarity offers suggestions for more comprehensive governmental protections for consumers, workers, and the environment. Contents Preface Introduction: Two Tragedies Part One. The Evolving Social Bargain 1. The Laissez Faire Benchmark 2. Freedom Reined: The Progressive Era Through the Public Interest Era 3. Freedom, Responsibility, and Accountability Part Two. Preparing for the Laissez Faire Revival 4. The Intellectual and Financial Foundations 5. The Idea Infrastructure 6. The Influence Infrastructure Part Three. The Laissez Faire Revival 7. The Assaults on Regulation 8. Worker Safety 9. Environmental Protection 10. Drug and Device Safety 11. Food Safety 12. Transportation Safety 13. Financial Protection 14. Consumer Protection 15. Civil Justice Part Four. Renegotiating the Social Bargain 16. Disabled Government Patch-and-repair 18. Striking a New Bargain 19. Conclusions Notes Index