Charlatans
How Grifters, Swindlers, and Hucksters Bamboozle the Media, the Markets, and the Masses
-
- 14,99 €
Publisher Description
From snake-oil salesmen to crypto grifters, the "fascinating" (Fareed Zakaria) story of charlatans—and why we fall for them
For centuries charlatans have been bamboozling victims. But today, charlatanry is more lucrative and global than ever. Using the power of digital technology, our age’s charlatans have spun a worldwide web of exploitation on an unprecedented scale.
In Charlatans, global affairs experts Moisés Naím and Quico Toro investigate how charlatans fool us and why they’ve become so influential today. They argue that modern charlatans exploit the same weak points in human cognition as the snake-oil salesmen of the old West. They earn our trust, trick us into believing they have some special skill or knowledge, then exploit us. In some ways, nothing has changed. But, today, charlatans are digital, viral, and global. Whether they’re health gurus pushing pseudoscience or crypto bros orchestrating Ponzi schemes, modern charlatans rapidly amass worldwide audiences on the internet and social media using a common set of strategies. These hucksters swiftly swindle unsuspecting victims, as our slow-moving institutions struggle to respond.
Packed with insights on how to avoid being duped by charlatans, this is an eye-opening journey through the brazen deception and brutal victimization at the heart of this new global scourge.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalists Moisés (The Revenge of Power) and Toro deliver a sharp and disturbing exploration of large-scale deception in this well-researched survey of snake-oil salesmen, Ponzi schemers, and the systems that enable them. From Charles Ponzi's 20th-century investment scheme to modern-day crypto collapses at Celsius and FTX, the authors trace how fraud has evolved in the digital age. With crisp storytelling and biting analysis, they delve into the workings of televangelists, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and Trump University, contending that each exploit people's desire to achieve their dreams of greatness. "We must remember that our dreams double as vulnerabilities," the authors warn, "and exploiting those vulnerabilities is what charlatans specialize in." The internet, Naím and Toro suggest, has only boosted the spread of fraud, allowing QAnon conspiracy theorists, shady wellness influencers, and others to find marks with unprecedented ease. Urgent and unsettling, this provocative blend of true crime and social critique will leave readers questioning what, and whom, they trust.
