The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream

"This is the most important, dynamic book on the cancers of monopoly by giant corporations written in our generation."-from the foreword by Ralph Nader The biggest problem facing America and the world right now is "bigness." Our industrial and economic sectors-from tech, retail, and media to agriculture, food, and more-are so big that they're beyond the control of citizens, consumers, or the government (in fact, they've captured the latter). Similarly, the billionaire class has gotten so big in terms of wealth that its members have easily corrupted our politics to direct more and more of the nation's wealth and resources to themselves. But America was birthed in a revolt against a monopoly-remember the British East India Company and the Boston Tea Party? If Jefferson and Madison could see how government and business collude today, they'd weep. Hartmann explores how the intentions of the Founders were thwarted and describes commonsense, historically rooted measures we can take-such as revitalizing antitrust regulation, taxing great wealth, and getting money out of politics-to wrest control of our country from the monopolists.

About the Author :
Thom Hartmann is the host of a nationally syndicated daily progressive talk radio program and an internationally syndicated daily TV program. More people listen daily to the Thom Hartmann Program than any other progressive talk show in the nation. Talkers Magazine named Thom Hartmann as the eighth most important talk show host in America, and the #1 most important progressive host, in their Heavy Hundred ranking. Sean Pratt (AEA/SAG/AFTRA) has been a working professional actor in the theater, film, TV, and voice-overs for twenty-five years. He has been an audiobook narrator for seventeen years, has recorded over 700 books in almost every genre, and has received eight AudioFile magazine Earphones Awards and four Audie Award nominations from the Audio Publishers Association. For the last ten years, Sean has been helping actors, both students and professionals, to understand the complexities of the BIZ as well as reinvigorate and refocus their careers through his easy-to-understand, dynamic concepts. Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate and author. Named by The Atlantic as one of the hundred most influential figures in American history and by Time and Life magazines as one of the hundred most influential Americans of the twentieth century. He and the dozens of citizen groups he has founded have helped us drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer workplaces. He continues to be a relentless advocate for grassroots activism, more civic organizations, and democratic change for a just society.