The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity

(Paperback)

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One of the world's foremost exponents of anti-monopoly law explains how Big Tech is strangling our economies and how to stop it Today's tech platforms are some of history's most advanced tools for extracting as much as possible - data, attention, profit-margins - from everyone else. As they become essential, we are at risk of building an economy that is perpetually unfair for much of humanity. Places and spaces where people can exchange information and goods have been at the heart of every economy and every civilization in history, but today's global platforms - as provided by Amazon, Google, Apple, Meta and others - are different- instead of providing value they extract it, creating vast disparities in wealth and power between the haves and have-nots. For the first time in history, we have the ability to create sustainable prosperity for all, but currently that wealth is concentrated in a tiny number of hands. It isn't abundance that's the problem; it is distribution. In this brilliantly engaging, frequently surprising account, Tim Wu, one of the world's foremost experts on anti-monopoly law, draws on fascinating case studies in the history of technology's explosive rise to demonstrate emphatically that breaking monopolies will ultimately unleash creativity and growth - and reduce the vast inequality that inevitably leads to social upheaval and political chaos. Wu also sets out an alternative blueprint that preserves the economic flourishing that platforms catalyze, allowing tech platforms to play a major role in creating and sustaining an economic model of prosperity not just for the few but for the many.

Reviews

[Wu] writes books that make a big impact -- John Naughton * Guardian *
Wu is much better than most . . . mainly because he has narrative flair and an eye for the most telling examples * Sunday Times *
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 * Financial Times on The Curse of Bigness *
Timely and important . . . Wu makes an urgent and persuasive case -- Joseph E. Stiglitz on The Curse of Bigness
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 -- Shoshana Zuboff, author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Original, provocative and stimulating -- Timothy Garton Ash on The Curse of Bigness
I couldn't put this fascinating book down. Gripping from page one with its insight, vivid writing, and panoramic sweep, [it] is also a book of urgent importance -- Amy Chua on The Attention Merchants
A profoundly important book -- James Gleick on The Attention Merchants
Magisterial . . . Wus sharp analysis and eye for a good story will impress * Sunday Times on The Master Switch *
Wu is the rare writer capable of exhuming history and also interpreting current affairs. In this profound and important book, he excels at both * New Scientist on The Master Switch *

Author Bio

Tim Wu is Julius Silver Professor of Law, Science and Technology at Columbia Law School. He served as President Biden's Special Assistant for Technology and Competition Policy and is known for his expertise in antitrust law and for coining the term 'network neutrality'. He is the author of The Master Switch, The Attention Merchants and The Curse of Bigness.