The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

The Shock Doctrine is a critical review of the use and consequences of free-market economics. It takes its title from the application of Shock Therapy as a means to bring economic transformation, Shock and Awe, the military strategy of Donald Rumsfeld used in the invasion of Iraq, but also elsewhere, and of electric-shocks and the use of torture to sustain authoritarian governments. There are two recurring themes which run through the book: the allying of rapid free-market reforms as advocated by Chicago School economists, and specifically Milton Freedman, to authoritarian state strategies; and, contrary to free-market reforms, the rise of the corporate state and in particular the capture of political elites by large private corporations, especially US-controlled ones. Klein highlights how free-market economists have advanced the assumption that conditions of war,…