Boob Jubilee

The Cultural Politics of the New Economy

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Edited by Tom Frank and Dave Mulcahey,

Preface by Studs Terkel

W. W. Norton and Co.

Due/Published August 2003, 288 pages, paper

ISBN 0393324303

For a magazine dedicated to debunking the nation's business culture, the final years of the twentieth century overflowed with bounty. "It was the most spectacular outbreak of mass delirium that we are likely to see in our lifetimes," wrote the editors of The Baffler. What was for others the dawn of a "New Economy" was for The Baffler a cornucopia of absurdity--the costliest political and financial hustle in living memory.

Reporting from places far from the white-hot centers of the libertarian revolution, Baffler writers were the people of whom it was fashionable to say they just don't get it. While New Democrats turned somersaults for Wall Street and economic commentary became puffery, these bold and funny writers observed the crescendo of folly with which the century turned.

Here their best writings are selected, updated, and reaffirmed, to sharpen our wits and inoculate us against follies yet to come. 

Review

Amid the din of Dinesh D’Souza, the gobbledygook of George Gilder, and the hyperbolic commentary from countless other proponents of the “New Economy,” The Baffler has maintained a sharp eye on the recent infatuation with the free market and the Internet economy. In describing the magazine’s attitude, the editors write, “What was for others the dawn of a 'New Economy,' a final leave-taking from the problems of history, was for us a cornucopia of absurdity. It was, without a doubt, the most spectacular outbreak of mass pundit delusion that we are likely to see in our lifetimes.” Boob Jubilee collects writings from The Baffler and offers a unique and essential cultural and social history of the past decade. Combining satire, social analysis, and muckraking journalism, Boob Jubilee exposes the excesses, absurdities, and fallacies surrounding the “New Economy.” Aside from pointing out the inanities found in financial magazines and the works of business gurus, The Baffler has also brilliantly dissected the ways in which culture and academia have fallen prey or been co-opted by the free-market. Drawing on a wide range of traditions, including Mencken’s journalism, the writings of Frankfurt School, and the finest elements of the American populist tradition, The Baffler is a beacon of sharp, funny, and timely social and cultural criticism.

Contributors include, Thomas Frank, Mike Newirth, Ben Metcalf, Christian Parenti, Paul Maliszewski, Chris Lehmann, Doug Henwood, Tom Vanderbilt, and Michael Marton.