Antitrust

Taking on Monopoly Power from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age

De: Amy Klobuchar

Narrado por: Nan McNamara, Amy Klobuchar

National best seller

Antitrust enforcement is one of the most pressing issues facing America today - and Amy Klobuchar, the widely respected senior senator from Minnesota, is leading the charge. This fascinating history of the antitrust movement shows us what led to the present moment and offers achievable solutions to prevent monopolies, promote business competition, and encourage innovation.

In a world where Google reportedly controls 90 percent of the search engine market and Big Pharma’s drug price hikes impact healthcare accessibility, monopolies can hurt consumers and cause marketplace stagnation. Klobuchar - the much-admired former candidate for president of the United States - argues for swift, sweeping reform in economic, legislative, social welfare, and human rights policies, and describes plans, ideas, and legislative proposals designed to strengthen antitrust laws and antitrust enforcement.

Klobuchar writes of the historic and current fights against monopolies in America, from Standard Oil and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to the Progressive Era's trust-busters; from the breakup of Ma Bell (formerly the world's biggest company and largest private telephone system) to the pricing monopoly of Big Pharma and the future of the giant tech companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Google.

She begins with the Gilded Age (1870s-1900), when builders of fortunes and rapacious robber barons such as J. P. Morgan, John Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt were reaping vast fortunes as industrialization swept across the American landscape, with the rich getting vastly richer and the poor, poorer. She discusses President Theodore Roosevelt, who, during the Progressive Era (1890s-1920), "busted" the trusts, breaking up monopolies; the Clayton Act of 1914; the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914; and the Celler-Kefauver Act of 1950, which it strengthened the Clayton Act. She explores today's Big Pharma and its price-gouging; and tech, television, content, and agriculture communities and how a marketplace with few players, or one in which one company dominates distribution, can hurt consumer prices and stifle innovation.

As the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, Klobuchar provides a fascinating exploration of antitrust in America and offers a way forward to protect all Americans from the dangers of curtailed competition, and from vast information gathering, through monopolies.

©2021 Amy Klobuchar (P)2021 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“An impressive work of scholarship, deeply researched...highly informative and surprisingly readable in the bargain.” (Liaquat Ahamed, The New York Times Book Review)

“Senators rarely write books, and when they do, they tend to be political memoirs. But Klobuchar’s Antitrust is a serious and important contribution that will help build momentum for reform.... Throughout, she references her own proposed legislation on the topic. And as Klobuchar is chair of the Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on competition policy, antitrust, and consumer rights, her proposals are likely to be one of the starting points for reform.” (The New Republic)

“Methodical...Klobuchar furnishes an overview of the evolution of U.S. anti-monopoly law and a call for rebalancing the relationship between capital and labor. She condemns corporate consolidation and wealth concentration, and views lax antitrust enforcement as antithetical to democracy.” (The Guardian)

This is an excellent explanation of a complex topic.

This book is a very valuable reference regarding trusts, monopolies, competition and the necessity of adequate regulation. It provides a view of both the current conditions in the U.S. economy (in 2020) as well as some of the history. Understanding that a “Trust” is a form of business organization where multiple companies can be combined together under a single management operation is critical for citizens in a capitalist society. A trust is a way for the owners and controllers of companies to move toward a state where they hold monopoly power. Hence, the Sherman Antitrust Act is an anti-monopoly law. Also essential to an understanding of this subject is an understanding of the terms vertical trust and horizontal trust, and how they can lead to a lack of competition in a market. The author includes a good mix of examples of current situations where abuse is occurring. This is timely and valuable information.

It's about time

Senator Amy covers this subject beautifully and honestly presents the crucial essence of monopoly powers and our government
lack of control over "Big Business" . I feel we are too late in stopping these anticompetitive policies though.
we are doomed to suffer high prices for services as the so-called middle class fades into poverty and monopolist count their
money In the dungeons of Washington DC.

a dive into losing our way in the 21st century

Loved it. Reminds us of the how we were able to grow out of the guilded age and how we have fallen down with our diligence . She gives good reason to counter the thinking that regulation is counterproductive and that our nation needs to rebuild from the foundations of our economy instead of allowing a trickle down approach.

Heavy

Extremely important but indigestible.
I couldn’t get through it nor take action. I admire Amy extremely but I am at a loss to how to take action apart from voting for her.

Flawed but important

I love Amy and wholeheartedly agree with her assessment of the current competition environment, but the book seemed to be all over the place. It could have been more focused and definitely a lot shorter. However, this book strengthens my confidence in Amy as a positive influence in our national politics.

The narrator was great, and Amy's limited narration was also great.

A politician with ideals.

Amy Klobuchar take the reader on a detailed journey into antitrust law, and why it is necessary. It is and almost Unwinnable battle that someone needs to fight. Democracy and our since of fair play depend on it. Thank you Mrs. Klobuchar.
She would make a great President.

Not Just Monopolies But Progressive Politics Too

This book is written by Senator Amy Klobuchar. It starts out slow, as she tells us about her life and political perspective. Next, she goes into the meaning and history of antitrust in America – and the pace picks up. Not until halfway through the book, does she reveal that her initial accreditation as a sophisticated attorney at law came from her years as counsel for those entities seeking to protect their existence from monopolies. By, the middle of the book the pace is rapid and involving, Antitrust, Taking on Monopoly Power from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age, narrated by: Nan McNamara, is not just a book on monopolies. It is a treatise on the progressive perspective on politics and has engendered in me great respect for the political earnest nature of Senator Klobuchar. I did not understand how progressive she is but do not get me wrong, she is not a pie in the sky lib. She is all about what works best for the American people and our nation, she is not just an advocate for the downtrodden, but someone who can explain, clearly and concisely, why focusing on the needs of the lesser money endowed will create a better, all for one and one for all. This book was a big surprise for me. A rewarding one for someone educated as a political scientist. Recommended. A good and thoughtful presentation.

Started strong, then repetitive

The book started strong, but then became repetitive about halfway through. The examples were more citations of examples than stories that descriptively showed the issues and how they developed.

monopolies need to go

senator Klobuchar presents a compelling point of view, with a strong historical record and real issues we face today, plus concrete changes the country should move towards today. I learned things, and I'm moved to change how I vote by her presentation.

Hard to stay interested

Really hard to stay interested in this, I’ve listened to more interesting university lectures on YouTube