--- product_id: 2693071 title: "Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism" price: "77.56 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/2693071-bad-samaritans-the-myth-of-free-trade-and-the-secret store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism **Price:** 77.56 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism - **How much does it cost?** 77.56 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/2693071-bad-samaritans-the-myth-of-free-trade-and-the-secret) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description "Lucid, deeply informed, and enlivened with striking illustrations." -Noam Chomsky One economist has called Ha-Joon Chang "the most exciting thinker our profession has turned out in the past fifteen years." With Bad Samaritans, this provocative scholar bursts into the debate on globalization and economic justice. Using irreverent wit, an engagingly personal style, and a battery of examples, Chang blasts holes in the "World Is Flat" orthodoxy of Thomas Friedman and other liberal economists who argue that only unfettered capitalism and wide-open international trade can lift struggling nations out of poverty. On the contrary, Chang shows, today's economic superpowers-from the U.S. to Britain to his native Korea-all attained prosperity by shameless protectionism and government intervention in industry. We have conveniently forgotten this fact, telling ourselves a fairy tale about the magic of free trade and-via our proxies such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization-ramming policies that suit ourselves down the throat of the developing world. Unlike typical economists who construct models of how the marketplace should work, Chang examines the past: what has actually happened. His pungently contrarian history demolishes one pillar after another of free-market mythology. We treat patents and copyrights as sacrosanct-but developed our own industries by studiously copying others' technologies. We insist that centrally planned economies stifle growth-but many developing countries had higher GDP growth before they were pressured into deregulating their economies. Both justice and common sense, Chang argues, demand that we reevaluate the policies we force on nations that are struggling to follow in our footsteps. Review: Great critique of Neoliberal economic policies - In Bad Samaritans, economist Ha-Joon Chang challenges the dominant narrative that free markets and neoliberal globalization are the keys to economic success. Instead, he argues that the very nations promoting these policies—wealthy Western countries and global institutions like the IMF and World Bank—built their own economies through protectionism, industrial policy, and state intervention. Now, these same nations act as “Bad Samaritans” by forcing weaker countries to embrace policies that they themselves never followed when developing. Chang’s argument is bold: neoliberal free trade does not help developing nations—it traps them in dependency and underdevelopment. He provides historical evidence, case studies, and economic analysis to prove that successful economies like the U.S., Britain, Germany, Japan, and South Korea only industrialized through state-led economic planning, not free-market policies. Review: Excellent analysis for every developing country citizen - Coming from Turkey where all the illnesses and problems caused by the attitudes of the "Bad Samaritans" in this book are visible, I strongly recommend this valuable collection of arguments and examples to every developing country government official, especially to my own. The arguments in the book cleverly and clearly demonstrates how IMF, The World Bank and WTO trio pressures developing countries for strictly following free-trade practices while the country's citizens suffer under well developed tactics of rich multinational companies, freely moving hot money of the global funds and all sorts of international pressures on the developing governments and media. These tactics are at work in my country now and they are stronger than ever: All profit making SOE's have been sold, the Istanbul Stock Exchange is a little toy shop for the fast moving foreign money and there is hardly any bank left for Turkish owners. No rich country in the world became what it is, with free-trade, let them do methods. This is a fact the author very clearly demonstrates. As a matter of fact there is a former and more technical book on the same subject and this new book is in a way a laymen version of "Kicking Away the Ladder", Chang's 2002 book. I would like to invest my own spare time to translate this wonderfully eye opening book into Turkish. It is also interesting to note that the vivid personal accounts of the author in the first chapter, about his childhood times in South Korea closely resembles my own in the 1970's Turkey. It is sad for me to realize once again that Korean policy-makers have understood the lessons examined in this book early on, in the 1980's, and the Turkish politicians and business elders missed them. It is no coincidence that this book was written by a Korean economist. Excellent read, recommended to every developing country policy maker and citizen. And I don't think any reviewer from a developed country gets how terrible the situation caused by the neoliberal policies is, as far as I can tell from the reviews written here. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #205,847 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #24 in Globalization (Books) #54 in Free Enterprise & Capitalism #142 in Economic History (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 722 Reviews | ## Images ![Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71WnxuhJJxL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great critique of Neoliberal economic policies *by J***S on March 15, 2025* In Bad Samaritans, economist Ha-Joon Chang challenges the dominant narrative that free markets and neoliberal globalization are the keys to economic success. Instead, he argues that the very nations promoting these policies—wealthy Western countries and global institutions like the IMF and World Bank—built their own economies through protectionism, industrial policy, and state intervention. Now, these same nations act as “Bad Samaritans” by forcing weaker countries to embrace policies that they themselves never followed when developing. Chang’s argument is bold: neoliberal free trade does not help developing nations—it traps them in dependency and underdevelopment. He provides historical evidence, case studies, and economic analysis to prove that successful economies like the U.S., Britain, Germany, Japan, and South Korea only industrialized through state-led economic planning, not free-market policies. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent analysis for every developing country citizen *by C***N on April 29, 2008* Coming from Turkey where all the illnesses and problems caused by the attitudes of the "Bad Samaritans" in this book are visible, I strongly recommend this valuable collection of arguments and examples to every developing country government official, especially to my own. The arguments in the book cleverly and clearly demonstrates how IMF, The World Bank and WTO trio pressures developing countries for strictly following free-trade practices while the country's citizens suffer under well developed tactics of rich multinational companies, freely moving hot money of the global funds and all sorts of international pressures on the developing governments and media. These tactics are at work in my country now and they are stronger than ever: All profit making SOE's have been sold, the Istanbul Stock Exchange is a little toy shop for the fast moving foreign money and there is hardly any bank left for Turkish owners. No rich country in the world became what it is, with free-trade, let them do methods. This is a fact the author very clearly demonstrates. As a matter of fact there is a former and more technical book on the same subject and this new book is in a way a laymen version of "Kicking Away the Ladder", Chang's 2002 book. I would like to invest my own spare time to translate this wonderfully eye opening book into Turkish. It is also interesting to note that the vivid personal accounts of the author in the first chapter, about his childhood times in South Korea closely resembles my own in the 1970's Turkey. It is sad for me to realize once again that Korean policy-makers have understood the lessons examined in this book early on, in the 1980's, and the Turkish politicians and business elders missed them. It is no coincidence that this book was written by a Korean economist. Excellent read, recommended to every developing country policy maker and citizen. And I don't think any reviewer from a developed country gets how terrible the situation caused by the neoliberal policies is, as far as I can tell from the reviews written here. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Confirms Naomi Klein *by E***A on September 24, 2008* Naomi Klein's masterful work Shock Doctrine documents in exhaustive detail what is wrong with the free trade theory and practice that is being enforced around the globe. This work, though much smaller and simpler in scale, essentially confirms what Klein says, that the IMF and WTO and World Bank are not the helpers of the developing world, but their enslavers. Klein, however, personalizes her accusations, blaming the Chicago Boys (ie disciples of Milton Friedman's Chicago School of economics) and presents it as almost a grand conspiracy. Chang sees less bad intent and more misunderstanding behind the disastrously wrong prescription being given to the world for how to prosper. The writing style is clear and simple, and no one should have much trouble following Chang's line of reasoning. He makes good use of a few simple metaphors to prove his point. His image of his son, and his need for sheltering and support until he can get an education and grow up to be a productive member of society is memorable--the point being that urging under-developed countries to compete on a level playing field with mature manufacturing countries is just as silly as sending his 8 year old off to work would be. The comparison is telling because just as the non-productive years of a child's life is what enables him to become well-educated, so too there are children whose future is foreclosed by their need to work from childhood. Developing countries are in just that position. The main weakness that I see in this book is a certain thinness in the factual support. Very large conclusions are often apparently supported by a handful of examples. His native Korea was as poor as Mozambique just a generation ago, and look what it's done. Therefore, don't rule out Mozambique as a future world power. But are there other similar examples? European travelers thought Japanese were lazy 100 years ago. Ok, but the evidence is one or two small anecdotes. Was that really the general view? Was it really a widespread belief that Germans were inefficient and corrupt? Also, most who oppose things like NAFTA in this country do so because it is hurting our own economy. Is there really much concern in the US for the consequences for the poor countries? One can only assume that free trade must be beneficial for *someone* and if it isn't the poor countries, it would probably be...us. So the idea that we're doing this for our own benefit may not sit well with American protectionists. But an enlightening read, and very accessible. ## Frequently Bought Together - Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism - 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/2693071-bad-samaritans-the-myth-of-free-trade-and-the-secret](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/2693071-bad-samaritans-the-myth-of-free-trade-and-the-secret) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-10-05*