He argues that these corporate interests run the state "not for any ideological project—but simply in a way that would bring to them, individually and as a group, the most money.”[1] Galbraith was teaching economics at the University of Texas at Austin at the time of the book's creation.

Writing a preface for the paperback edition, which came out after the 2008 crash, Galbraith blamed the ongoing crisis on deregulation which, in the name of free markets, had left the financial predators to police themselves.

[6] Reviewing the book for the Journal of Economic Issues, L. Randall Wray describes it as "political economy at its best [...] equally deserving of status as a classic" as John Kenneth Galbraith's The New Industrial State and Thorstein Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class, both of which it can be said to update.

He writes, "the gusto with which [Galbraith] repeatedly challenges tired conventions is refreshing" but "his prose is absolutist in proportion to the extent to which his assertions are unprovable," concluding "It is not brilliant economics, but give him his due: He has raised trenchant questions about a system in crisis.

"[8] In the Shanghai Daily, Wan Lixin writes that most books on economics and management lack true insight, but makes an exception for The Predator State, which "does not provide answers, nor real solutions, [but] has the potential to help you think on your own.

[9] A review in Publishers Weekly describes the book as "highly readable" and rich in stimulating ideas, but "sometimes scattershot", with conclusions sometimes unclear or contradictory.