The Myth of Capitalism

Monopolies and the Death of Competition

By: Jonathan Tepper, Denise Hearn

Narrated by: Pamela Almand

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Myth of Capitalism tells the story of how America has gone from an open, competitive marketplace to an economy where a few very powerful companies dominate key industries that affect our daily lives. Digital monopolies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon act as gatekeepers to the digital world. Amazon is capturing almost all online shopping dollars. We have the illusion of choice, but for most critical decisions, we have only one or two companies, when it comes to high speed internet, health insurance, medical care, mortgage title insurance, social networks, internet searches, or even consumer goods like toothpaste. Every day, the average American transfers a little of their paycheck to monopolists and oligopolists. 

The solution is vigorous anti-trust enforcement to return America to a period where competition created higher economic growth, more jobs, higher wages, and a level playing field for all. The Myth of Capitalism is the story of industrial concentration, but it matters to everyone, because the stakes could not be higher. It tackles the big questions of: why the US is becoming a more unequal society, why economic growth is anemic despite trillions of dollars of federal debt and money printing, why the number of start-ups has declined, and why workers are losing out. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. 

©2019 Jonathan Tepper and Denise Hearn (P)2019 Gildan Media

Read and then take action

Considering I bought this book through a company aquired by Amazon, I am guilty as charged. I've been a huge advocate for each and everyone of the companies now dominating todays market. For example I bought an Amazon shredder which was essentially knock off of a popular shredder made by an independent company advertising on Amazon. More concerning is the huge drop of internet start ups we are seeing in San Francisco. Its like the money has dried up. Bottom line is these companies are not bad. but any concentration of power is. This is a good sjort read with lots of information. Pass it along

Fills in the gaps where Milton Friedman leaves off

This book could easily be titled "The legal tactics big businesses use to make themselves harder to compete with in a free enterprise market." That said, this is an eye-opening and thought provoking book, featuring large amounts of research findings that are shared in a way that is not overly pretentious. This book fills in the gaps where Milton Friedman & the Chicago School's economic theories leave off. Many folks can feel there is a problem with the system today, with prices, inflation, and cost of living on the up and up, all the while inequality continues to rise. Friedman's teachings about entrepreneurial freedom and the power of the free market to regulate itself through competition are powerful, but Tepper argues this is only possible to the extent where there is a fair playing field. He makes the case for what he terms is a "distorted version of capitalism" which serves to perpetuate monopolies, duopolies, and oligopolies.

Half of the book seems focused on Big Tech, which is great because it's a field I knew little about going into this read. The narrator was also very easy to listen to, making a very dense subject matter much more interesting.

Easy to recommend

Overall, its a great book. Understand that it tries to cover a lot of ground in a very short amount of space. The early chapters operate as a sort of primer on antitrust issues for the uninitiated, and middle of the book on does an extremely broad sweep of specific sectors, critiques and solutions. The choice to go broad means any one of these topics is shallow and where you're familiar with them you'll find yourself either filling in arguments yourself or poking holes, but I think it's enough for the purpose and there is a ton of strong arguments being made about why this isnt sector specific but a massive societal problem that's bigger than you think. Their proposals also dont come with much in the way of deep explanation. All these critiques being aired, the book reads quickly and was enjoyable, points out and makes arguments for maybe the most critical issues facing us right now and will give you plenty to think about. Easy to recommend, perhaps the best book for non-antitrust attorneys, and attorneys alike.

Flawed, but still worth a read.

A lot of good insight. Author has no understanding of several industries like banking and some aspects of tech as it relates to consumers. It is almost as clueless as Warren. Rather political toward the end of the book, but on the whole, a worthwhile read.

Read this book before it is banned

This is one of the best books that I have ever read. It is balanced, objective and approachable. It mixes economics, history and sociology seamlessly. The order of the book couldn't be better. it explains the problems and then gives specific examples. the summary gives practical short term and long term solutions.

This book doesn't just point fingers and divide people. Individual responsibility and personal choices are included in explanations of cause and effect.

This book could save America by bringing the left and right together around common goals. The by-product of following the suggestions made in this book would be a fairer country where innovators are rewarded and small businesses thrive.

Interesting but too repetitive

This is an interesting and scary book, but the author’s repetitiveness is annoying. His editor should have caught this and made changes.

very good and will recommend to my friends.

The audio is very very good love and enjoy every minuite of it .lm giong to buy some for my class

Possibly the most important book I have read.

I hope this book is widely read. So many people sense something is wrong with how the economy works today, but they often misdiagnose the problems, leading to counter-productive policy and populist election outcomes. This book makes a convincing case that people should be angry, first and foremost, at market concentration and anti-competitive behaviour, which leads to stagnant wages, inequality, corporate indifference to public anger, and many, many other problems. The book ends with clear, concise recommendations for how to fix the problem.

So, It Has Come To This?

So many people will not vote. Corporations will not change willingly. Politicians are owned by the corporations. Time for people to get out the pitchforks?

Interesting analysis of Monopoly

Well founded thesis but too many examples of problems and a very few examples of proposed solutions and lack of clear pathway for implementation. Follow up of this writing is shortly needed. An eye opener!

Well researched

Amazingly well researched, highly engaging and interesting listen. The way they tore apart the Thomas Piketty book made me laugh out loud.

I'd recommend this book for all levels

Great analysis without political bias on why capitalism isn't working the way it's supposed to. I particularly liked that they end the book with some real life measures we could be taking get inequality back to reasonable levels. This book is suitable for people who are new to economics / finance, but it also has something to offer for people who are more adept.

Interesting points

Overall a thought-provoking look at the current socioeconomic issues of our time, although very USA-centric. Clearly has disdained for left-wing issues, could perhaps benefit from considering them in more depth- their points betray an ignorance of what was actually theorised given their reliance on typical generalisations in US politics.