Product Description

Palast, an investigative reporter, spent five years trying to find out what is really going on in politics and big business. In this volume he reveals what PR companies, lobbyists and politicians spend their time keeping hidden. Using sources inside the global institutions he establishes that the IMF and the World Bank serve the interests of the very rich in Europe and America. In a series of sting operations he reveals how far the Labour government was prepared to go in its attempts to gain the support of big business, and his report on the American presidental election makes it clear that the wrong man is in the White House.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #161204 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Best Democracy Money Can Buy contains Greg Palast's greatest hits, and that means some of the biggest stories and scandals in recent memory. Palast is an internationally recognised expert on the control of corporate power who previously worked with labour unions and consumer groups in the US, South America and Europe investigating corporate corruption. Since then he has become a journalist whose investigative reports for the BBC and The Observer are all but banned in the US but that nevertheless pick up awards by the dozen.

The book opens with his report on how Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris allegedly stole the 2000 election for Bush by illegally removing African-Americans from voter rolls. This take-no-prisoners opener sets the tone for much of the book. It is followed by his report claiming that Bush killed off the FBI's investigation of the bin Laden family prior to the September 11 attack-–for which he was awarded the California State University's Project Censored Prize for a report too hot for US media.

The heart of the book is about the institutionalised economic criminal activity that is part and parcel of the politics of globalisation. Palast portrays the IMF, the World Bank and the assorted group of agencies as institutions that "dream up, then dictate, the terms of the new international economics" to create what he describes as "the Golden Straitjacket" of globalisation. He produces vivid case studies from across the globe to challenge even the most paranoid of conspiracy theorists. On the whole, the book claims to show that economic "assistance plans" presided over by these institutions amount to a (so far) guaranteed sentence of economic damnation.

As much has been published elsewhere; there is little new here and Palast's strident style can sometimes obscure the finer points of analyses. But this is an in-your-face book with a powerful call to action that will outrage and energise many of its readers. --Larry Brown

Review
"- 'Those in authority will not agree, but we need more Greg Palasts' Will Hutton - 'The information is a hand grenade' John Pilger - 'The journalist I admire the most. I'm an avid reader of everything Palast writes - can never get enough of it' George Monbiot

John Pilger
'The information is a hand grenade.'

Customer Reviews

Astonishing and incendiary stuff. An absolute MUST READ
Ok, we all knew that Bush couldn't have won the election without some shenanigans, but Greg Palast blows the lid off corruption on a scale that's hard to imagine. How he got through all the red tape and obstructions put up to stop him getting at the truth is amazing.
When he then shows how corrupt are the people in Blair's close circles, you stop feeling secure in anything. Top that with the machinations of the IMF and World Bank in Latin America, the big business at the heart of political decision making
and you want to move somewhere far away, like Alaska. Except that the Exxon Valdez got there first. Read this book - it shows the world as it is, not as they like you to believe it is.

The buzzing of business
Years ago, we watched, through blurred vison, Peter Sellers in Doctor Strangelove. The blurring was either from the hilarity or the grief the film inspired. The dialogue could double us over with mirth, while the story directly confronted us with our mortality and that control of our fate resided with such devious leaders. Greg Palast evokes an identical response. He chronicles the stolen election of the world�s most powerful leader, how the International Monetary Fund and World Band exercise immense control over national destinies, and how the rich increase their influence and income at our expence. He keeps us charmed with his wit, while reminding us of our near-helplessness in the face of mighty, but hidden, forces.

Every essay in this collection jolts the reader. It�s like turning over a rock or breaking open a rotten log - the ugly grubs exposed bring revulsion and dismay. How does life produce such distasteful creatures? Palast exposes the putrid path of the Bush dynasty, the betrayal of the British voters by "New Labour" and the intrigues of international corporations in Asia, Africa, Latin America. How, he asks, do we allow these people to gain their ascendancy over our lives? One answer lies within our favourite ideal community - the small, rural, American town. There, he notes, avaricious investors have overturned local attempts to retain their values to instil the symbols of corporate enterprise These blights on our landscape are made welcome - "they boost the economy"!

Palast�s concluding set of essays, how the Blair government sold out the British populace would bring tears to the hardiest. He shows how corporate executives and their agents have become an "arm of government" in policy making and implemetation. The arm has a long reach, extending from New York banks and government offices in Washington. Centre to these revealing articles is the overthrow of a tax on shopping mall car parks. The deal, engineered by a major corporation was part of an overall plan to "head the [Labour] government in a different direction." In other words, reverse the policies that were the foundation of Labour�s successes at the polls. Blair�s real foundation is "America�s enterpreneurialism," the drive for global markets which "projects corporate powers onto one tiny, cold island" welcomed by its "always-grinning native chief." Blair prides himself on "listening to industry" before formulating policy.

Palast has few peers as an investigative journalist. Of necessity, he must shield his sources, which keeps us mildly suspicious. Are things really THAT bad? Unfortunately, as time passes, his assertions are substantiated, restoring our faith in his reporting. As an investigative journalist, the solutions for many of the social ills he reports are lacking here. And so they should - the solutions lie with his readers. This book isn�t a prescription for what besets us, but a learning tool. He notes cases of how success against corporate indifference has been achieved. Find out how to tap in to $1.04 TRILLION available to those without adequate local banking services. Read this book to understand what is happening around you and take the first steps to implement the cure. It's your choice. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Brilliant....but scary !
Greg Palast manages to expose the total lack of principles and the total domination of self-interest within the world of politics and big business (the bigger the better it seems !).

The scary things are:-

1. Why do these people get away with it ?
2. If they are this cynical in their methods, what will stop them doing whatever they want in future without retribution ?
3. If Palast is being discredited, why have they never taken him to court over these stories ? (i think I know that one !).

Read this book to open your eyes ! Vote accordingly !