THE END OF FREE ENTERPRISES

A definition of Mr. Rogers' views-calls for a new epithet. Ultra-, extreme, or radical-conservative will not do, because none of these connote his urbanity, his flexibility, or intelligence. He, as some may recall, is the former Business and Financial Editor of the New York Herald Tribune who caused himself to be fired, by giving a speech ""off the record"" at the ""Washington Round Table"" in which he suggested that businessmen Should be self-interested enough to give more of their advertising to papers whose policies support ""the private-enterprise system"" and less to the ""leftwing"" and ""anti-conservative"" press. This book is more than an account of the background to and repercussions of that single act. It aims, in fact, at nothing less than ""A Credo for American Business."" Readers expecting an orotund outpouring of grievances will find that Mr. Rogers can be very witty and very much to the point. He fires off a good many well-aimed rounds at nearly everybody, but his special targets are advertising and public relations men, fellow journalists, and businessmen themselves. He is, in sum, an ingratiating Cassandra whose by-blows at least can be appreciated by almost anyone, whatever their brand of economics.