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Dec 13, 2018

Tim Wu is an American lawyer, professor at Columbia Law School, and contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. In this episode of the Evolve the Law Podcast, Tim and host Ian Connett (@QuantumJurist) discuss one of the biggest threats for American democracy as we know it today: the rise of legal antitrust enforcement.

Show Notes

  • How we arrived at the New Gilded Age – unprecedented levels of industry concentration across multiple industries.
  • Correlating industry concentration to political polarization.
  • How Tim’Wu’s tenure in Obama White House sparked an interest in Antitrust – observing increasing wealth concentration like a growing “hole in ozone lawyer.”
  • Why you cannot see, but most certainly feel the ill effects of weak Antitrust enforcement.
  • The heroes of The Curse of Bigness – the legacy of Louis Brandeis and his vision of an America filled with thriving small businesses designed to help human beings reached their fullest potentials.
  • Louis Brandeis as the original “start up” business lawyer.
  • On building churches – the churches of Rockefeller and Big Tech.
  • Teddy Roosevelt as “octopus hunter” – the trust-buster made flesh!
  • Dissecting The Sherman Act – a broad law
  • Being big vs. being big and bad. The crucial question of Antitrust enforcement.
  • On the possibility of “gentle giants”.  Microsoft of the 90s vs. Microsoft of today.
  • How Robert Bork helped to bork Antitrust enforcement during the Reagan years.  How that spurred the New Gilded Age.
  • Why Big Tech is now beyond ripe for Antitrust enforcement.  Why large tech firms were given a 20 year pass.
  • On the fear of “killing the golden goose in the cradle.”
  • Facebook as the emblem of The Curse of Bigness?
  • How corporate breakups are actually part of a healthy, technological innovation cycle.  See the examples of Standard Oil and AT&T.
  • Why Anti-Trust is not at all Anti-Tech.
  • How to get a copy of The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age.


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