The Curse of Bigness: How Corporate Giants Came to Rule the World

'Timely and important.' -- Joseph E. Stiglitz 'Tim Wu helps shape an urgent new global conversation.' -- Shoshana Zuboff We're three decades into a global experiment: what happens when the major nations of the world weaken their control on the size and power of corporate giants and allow unrestricted expansion? In The Curse of Bigness, Tim Wu exposes the threats monopolies pose to economic stability and social freedom around the world. Aided by the globalization of commerce and finance, in recent years we have seen takeovers galore that make a mockery of the ideals of competition and economic freedom. Such is the 'curse of bigness': stifled entrepreneurship, stalled productivity, dominant tech giants like Facebook and Google, and fewer choices for consumers. Urgent and persuasive, this bold manifesto argues that we need to rediscover the anti-monopoly traditions that brought great peace and prosperity in the past.

Table of Contents:
0: Introduction 1: Where Our Path Has Led 2: The Lost Lessons of the Second World War 3: The Anti-Monopoly Tradition 4: Peak Anti-Monopoly 5: The Tech Explosion of the 1980s and 1990s 6: Neoliberalism's Triumph 7: The Problem of Global Monopoly 8: The Rise of the Tech Giants 9: Conclusion: Breaking Up Global Economic Power

About the Author :
Tim Wu is Professor of Law, Science and Technology at Columbia Law School and a contributing writer for the New York Times. He previously worked for Barack Obama and is the author of The Master Switch and The Attention Merchants.

Review :
Short and sharp... an excellent primer for anyone who wants to understand why corporate wealth and power have grown so concentrated... and why that might be a problem for democracy. Admirably concise and punchy. Mr. Wu writes with elegance, conviction, knowledge - and certitude. Timely and important... Wu makes an urgent and persuasive case. With The Curse of Bigness Tim Wu helps shape an urgent new global conversation on market democracy, reviving the critical role of governments in curbing corporate power. Original, provocative and stimulating. As Tim Wu argues in The Curse of Bigness, global economic concentration is now at levels unseen in more than a century - since the early days of industrial capitalism... Wu manages to make this brisk and impressively readable overview of the subject vivid and compelling. It's a big idea for a little book, but Wu knows how to keep everything concise and contained. The Curse of Bigness moves nimbly through the thicket, embracing the boons of being small. Tim Wu has pulled off an incredible feat - he's written a short, compelling book on antitrust... Persuasive and brilliantly written, the book is especially timely given the rise of trillion-dollar tech companies. Sweeping in scope, The Curse of Bigness is probably the best popular account of the history of American antitrust law and policy. It captures the stakes in the battle for antitrust - and it cuts to the heart of one of the central questions of our time: can democracy survive? Tim Wu writes books that make a big impact.