Neoliberalism is the disease which keeps on killing.

But did you know the neoliberal economic gospel we live under today is a deliberate misinterpretation of the original theory?

In her new book, The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market, historian of science Naomi Oreskes shows how a group of American plutocrats distorted the the conservative teachings of Friedrich van Hayek’s theory of neoliberalism in order to plunder the world’s resource, unleash the markets, and undermine federal power.

Naomi joins me today to give an incisive and brutal summary of why our world is in crisis, detailing the criminal avarice of these plutocrats; how institutions, lobbyists and corporations continue to undermine democracy; and why a renewable world threatens the powers that be. This phenomenal explanation shows why the climate crisis is not a scientific problem, but a political, economic and social issue, with Naomi revealing tactics civilians used throughout history against the destructive elite.

© Rachel Donald

Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project with a paid subscription.

‘It’s Not the End of the World’ book assumptions & omissions spark debate

Check out my latest episode on Mongabay’s Newscast in Hannah Ritchie and I go head-to-head about her book, It’s Not the End of the World, and the data omissions which paint a far rosier picture of the polycrisis than her backer, Bill Gates, would have us believe.