Are free market economies really based on fleecing the consumer? Is the U.S. economy truly just a giant free-for-all that encourages duplicity in our everyday transactions? Is everyone from corporate CEOs to your local car salesman really looking to make a buck at your expense?

In Freedomnomics: Why the Free Market Works and Other Half-Baked Theories Don’t, economist and bestselling author John R. Lott Jr. addresses these and other common economic questions, confronting some of the misconceptions about markets created by the bestselling book Freakonomics. He argues that free markets liberate the best, most creative, and most generous aspects of our society — whereas efforts to constrain economic liberty, no matter how well-intentioned, invariably lead to increased poverty and injustice. Lott also extends his economic analysis to posit corollaries between free markets and our political and criminal justice systems. Jared Bernstein and Michael New will offer sharply diverging critiques.