Palast, Greg. The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: An Investigative Reporter
Exposes the Truth About Globalization, Corporate Cons, and High-Finance
Fraudsters. New York: Plume (Penguin Group), 2003. 370 pages.
Greg Palast was raised in Los Angeles by working-class parents, studied
with Milton Friedman's "Chicago Boys" at the University of Chicago in the
mid-1970s, and worked for two labor unions as an anti-corporate researcher.
In 1997 Palast began writing and reporting from Britain, for the Guardian
and Observer papers. His major scoops there were about a payola scandal in
Tony Blair's cabinet, the machinations behind the 2000 presidential election
in Florida, and claim-jumping in Tanzania by Barrick Gold Corporation. The
Guardian and Observer got more than their fair share of nuisance lawsuits
over some of this reporting, but Palast had the documentation to persevere.
Another story involved Britain's energy privatization, which revealed the
hand of Enron Corporation before anyone had heard of them in America.
This book is an in-your-face account of Palast's adventures. The first
edition was on the NYT bestseller list in 2002. By 2003 Palast had become
something of a cult figure, with a slick website at www.gregpalast.com, and
numerous accolades from mainstream reviewers. Today Palast is an exception
to the rule that muckraking won't fly in corporate America. You always need
one or two exceptions, to make the media look blameless, but that's not his
fault. At this point, he may as well see how far he can go with it.
ISBN 0-452-28391-4
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