Selling the free market : the rhetoric of economic correctness The Rhetoric of Economic Correctness Revisioning Rhetoric Series

While accusations of "political correctness" are frequently raised against liberals, there has been suprisingly little discussion of how conservatives foment the use of their own "economically correct" language. In this engaging book, James Arnt Aune examines how the rhetoric of the free market has become the everyday language of American political debate. Outlining the key ideas of free-market economics, Aune shows how they have permeated political decisions around such issues as labor unions, farm subsidies, and the minimum wage. He also illuminates the paradoxes and irrationalities of these ideas, using rhetorical theory as an analytical tool. The book reveals the inherent contradictions between economic libertarianism, nationalist principles, and social conservatism in the positions of such influential right-wing politicians as Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, and Patrick Buchanan. It also provides lively and critical readings of important free-market and liberation writings by Ayn Rand, Robert Nozick, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Murray. Vividly demonstrating the destructive impact of "economic correctness" on the lives of working people and families, this book ably refutes both the language and the logic of the market revolution.

Introduction: How the Right Triumphed. Rhetoric, Economics, and Problems of Method. The Rhetoric-Economics Connection: Rhetorical Strategies of Economic Analysis. Economic Rhetoric and the Realist Style (or, There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch) What Libertarians Want Checking Ayn Rand's Premises, Or, The Revenge of the Nerds. Anarchy, State, and Utopia: A Rhetorical Reading. What Libertarians Want, According to Murray Rothbard and Charles Murray. The Struggle over Reagan's Free Market Legacy. From Reagan to Buchanan: National Glory and Globalization. Newt Gingrich, Cyberpunk, and Globalization. Conclusion: The Market and Human Happiness. An Appendix for Academics: On Deirdre McCloskey's Rhetoric of Economics.

Examines how the rhetoric of the free market has become the everyday language of American political debate together with outlining the key ideas of free-market economics.