Reader BL writes in to suggest that "a more succinct response to Samuelson might be to recommend your Prospect colleague Dean Baker's The Conservative Nanny State. None of this messing around with graphs and tax rate comparisons from different eras - just send people to some prose about the here-and-now. Baker's book didn't get half the attention it deserved." He's right. The book details how the rich use government policy to make themselves richer and avoid the threat of competition. It was meant as an attack on those who think the wealthy are all about the free market, though that's probably because Baker never imagined anyone would argue that the rich lack political power. But now that Samuelson has taken up that lonely crusade, Baker's book stands as a nice rejoinder to him, too. Plus, it's a damn good book, and available for free download. THE CONSERVATIVE NANNY STATE.
Reader BL writes in to suggest that "a more succinct response to Samuelson might be to recommend your Prospect colleague Dean Baker's The Conservative Nanny State. None of this messing around with graphs and tax rate comparisons from different eras - just send people to some prose about the here-and-now. Baker's book didn't get half the attention it deserved." He's right. The book details how the rich use government policy to make themselves richer and avoid the threat of competition. It was meant as an attack on those who think the wealthy are all about the free market, though that's probably because Baker never imagined anyone would argue that the rich lack political power. But now that Samuelson has taken up that lonely crusade, Baker's book stands as a nice rejoinder to him, too. Plus, it's a damn good book, and available for free download. 
