The Hidden History of Neoliberalism

How Reaganism Gutted America and How to Restore Its Greatness

By: Thom Hartmann

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Length: 4 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Progressive radio host Thom Hartmann reveals how and why neoliberalism became so prevalent in the United States and why it's time for us to turn our backs to it.

While America is at a crossroads regarding its economic future, many of us don’t fully understand how we got here. In this powerful and accessible book, Thom Hartmann demystifies neoliberalism and explains how we can use this pivotal point in time to create a more positive future.

This book traces the history of neoliberalism—which applies to a set of capitalistic philosophies favoring free trade, financial austerity, and deregulation—up to the present. Hartmann explains how neoliberalism was sold as a cure for wars and the Great Depression. He outlines the impact that it has had on America, looking at different sectors, including healthcare, unemployment, and education.

Hartmann highlights how America can go one of two ways: continue going down the road to neoliberal oligarchy, as supported by the GOP, or choose to return to FDR’s Keynesian economics, raise taxes on the rich, reverse free trade, and create a more pluralistic society.

©2022 Thom Hartmann (P)2022 Thom Hartmann

Concise timeline of how we’ve gotten where we are today

I recommend this to anyone curious about our current state of being as a nation and how we’ve gotten here.

This Book!

It wonderful to read and put into perspective how this system is faulty and the issues that caused this. This book is good, thank you again Thom.

Required reading

Thom’s whole Hidden History series should be required reading in high schools. The most cogent look at issues facing the post-Enlightenment governmental experiments.

Everyone needs to read this book

The book does cover all that is wrong with neoliberal thinking and the experiences with neoliberal thinking. But what seems missing is any plausible explanation of how anyone, much less trained economists, could find to support such a crazy scheme. What kind of argument could possibly be developed for it ever to have seemed to make economic sense. Maybe that is for a sequel.

Perfectly Engaging

Explains the concept so well and then gives you a story with clear examples, perfect for my purposes of learning about Neoliberalism.

It's disquieting.

I seldom review the books I have finished, but I was so concerned that no one had said anything... that I thought I had better give a proper description.
This book is overflowing with libelous claims against several deceased intellectuals, includes edited, out of context quotations, inappropriate and misleading adjectives, curiosly misattributed ideological affiliations, misrepresented events, inverted timelines, and neglected historical consequences.
In short, it's a blatant, four hour hit piece. I hope others will check into the people and events he is talking about... the author even mentions the proliferation of websites and articles contradicting his narrative, as though those are some sinister and subtle proof of his case. It should occur to most readers that those sites exist in such numbers simply because they are dealing with ideas more consistent with reality than those given by the author.
I am still trying to reconcile to myself the amount of respect I fear I have lost for the man who recommended it to me. It is most unfortunate.