'The big myth': How peddlers of free market propaganda succeeded in the US
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Former US president Ronald Reagan once said that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are "I'm from the government and I'm here to help". It's a rhetoric that struck a chord with his conservative base, with the idea that a smaller government can allow an individual or private organisation to operate more effectively. But it's just one of the many myths promulgated to tell a narrative that serves the business elite, according to renowned author and Harvard Professor Naomi Oreskes. She calls the idea of a free market a construct created to gain popular support to defend corporate power. Her latest book is "The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market", co-authored with Erik M. Conway. She spoke to FRANCE 24's Gavin Lee in Perspective.