The Great Unravelling: From Boom to Bust in Three Scandalous Years [Hardcover]

It seems that the Revolutionary Power acts so out of line with normal diplomacy and politics that other nations and individuals don't realize how radical the RP is. Even when it is increasingly obvious what is going on, people refuse to believe it. The few critics will be dismissed as shrill or hysterical or as conspiracy theorists.

Of course, Krugman thinks the current administration may well be a Revolutionary Power. He describes how they (in his view) are turning diplomacy on its head with notions of pre-emptive war and unilateralism. Domestically, he believes that our RP is running huge deficits in order to make Social Security impossible to fund.

The Great Unraveling consists mostly of previously published columns, arranged by topic. This makes the text a bit jumpy, since he skips from the year 2000 to 2003 and back again, depending on the subject.

Krugman makes a pretty good case for his claims and he explains even complex topics, such as the Enron scandal, and George W. Bush's Harken shenanigans, clearly and concisely. And he brings a calm, rather conservative attitude to some seemingly outrageous ideas. What seems outlandish coming from a left-leaning publication seems perfectly reasonable when the economist Krugman says it.

Possibly radical, certainly alarming, and definitely a worthwhile book.

As an economic scholar, Krugman opens the series with essays on economic policies - banking, corporate greed and dollar politics. He examines the Asian economic crisis of the late 1990s and draws vivid parallels with the path America is taking. He sidesteps the "everything will be all right - just trust us" mode of economic thinking. He probes into promises and the underlying realities with a surgeon's skill. What he exposes is equally stomach-churning. The American economy, notwithstanding the shrill declarations of the Bush administration, is teetering on the brink. Krugman's descriptive exposure of Bush mathematics ranges from "fuzzy" to "false". Not encouraging for the future.

The Bush fallacies, Krugman argues, lie on the backs and wallets of the American populace. And these deceptions go beyond purely economic issues. In the 1930s, another revolutionary's rise to power was greeted by many as a welcome relief from bombast. "He will be forced to temper his earlier pronouncements". Krugman shows how the Bush campaign and administration has foisted the same self-deception by the American public and media. Abetted by the WTC attacks, Bush has wrapped himself in the flag, insulating his declarations from criticism or complaint. The immense switch from a budget surplus to deficit was excused by the needs of the "war on terror". Krugman deftly dissects that argument, displaying the fallacies of logic and fact the public is expected to swallow. Rights are curtailed, monies diverted to special interests and presidential power is unconstitutionally enhanced. It is, Krugman stresses, a time of a "conservative" [read "reactionary"] revolution overthrowing long-standing American traditions. "Yes, Virginia", he says, "there is a right-wing conspiracy".

The revolutionary of the 1930s made ever increasing demands. "Compromise", even then was known as "appeasement". Krugman shows how appeasement is a dangerous a policy. Failure to curtail unreasonable demands only leads to further demands. The greedy revolutionary cannot be satiated. In Hitler's day, the issue was "lebensraum" - the quest for more living space. Today, the issue is domestic power over the population, permitting adventurism abroad. Now it's not just "lebensraum" but "corporate lebensraum" - access to resources and unlimited opportunity to exploit them with minimal return for the privilege. Then, the appeasers were the politicians of Western Europe. Today, to Krugman's dismay, it is the American media. Where informing the public was the traditional role of the media, now it is the propaganda tool of corporations. Only five corporations control the flow of news, information and entertainment. Krugman deems it AOLTimeWarnerGeneralElectricDisneyWestinghouseNewsCorp. This unity reflects the group's alliance as an administration voice. Dissent, a long American tradition, is now curtailed at the source. Bush's policies are excused, supported, even promulgated by a media sharing the exercise of power over the general population.

While it might seem an essay collection stretching back several years would strike a discordant chronological note, this is not the case here. By assembling a string of columns, Krugman offers reminders of events that affect us now. Topically arranged, this anthology provides continuity that might otherwise be lost unless you've taken the trouble to collect his work. Krugman is a serious thinker and he's seriously concerned with issues that have meaning to us all. As the world's most powerful nation, it is foolish to assume America's problems lie wholly within her borders. American policies have a distant reach and have already been implemented with military might. In line with any military environment, control of policies, resources and thought are part of the Bush agenda. Bush wants the world to be "like America", but if that model stands on shaky ground, its not a pattern other societies want to follow. Krugman has pointed out the problems, but declares that it's up to the American people to set things right themselves. These are not problems that will be overcome by a new version of "Crusade in Europe".
[stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]