Monopolies, Oligopolies, Market Concentration and Antitrust
Last updated: November 29, 2024
The problem of market concentration is one of the biggest challenges facing societies at the moment, but it's little talked about. Capitalism depends on a functioning market, with lots of competition to keep prices in check. That competition is rapidly disappearing around the world, meaning large companies can increasingly do what they like: charge high prices for their products, pay workers badly etc. The books and interviews below document this trend in greater detail, and, if you've never thought about this issue before, give you the tools to understand what it's all about (start with our interview on market concentration with Jan Loeys, an economist at JP Morgan, who starts with the basics).
One key issue has been the US approach to anti-trust, as the US plays such a large role in the world economy. (Anti-trust is a word that dates from the 1900s, and the trust-busting that brought corporates of that era under control). Anti-trust suits have been almost impossible for the Justice Department to win, as judges have sided with business in high-profile cases. New legislation is urgently needed, but is unlikely to pass in Congress. That has had knock-on effects around the world, as judges elsewhere are influenced by the US rulings.
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1
The Hour of Fate: Theodore Roosevelt, J.P. Morgan, and the Battle to Transform American Capitalism
by Susan Berfield -
2
The Curse of Bigness: Anti-Trust in the New Gilded Age
by Tim Wu -
3
Antitrust: Taking on Monopoly Power from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age
by Amy Klobuchar -
4
The Great Reversal: How America Gave up on Free Markets
by Thomas Philippon -
5
The Profit Paradox: How Thriving Firms Threaten the Future of Work
by Jan Eeckhout
The best books on Market Concentration, recommended by Jan Loeys
The best books on Market Concentration, recommended by Jan Loeys
Power corrupts and corporate power is no exception: its effects are bad for consumers, bad for workers and bad for the economy. Here, Belgian American economist Jan Loeys recommends books that look at the economic and political implications of ‘market concentration,’ and explains why we don’t need governments that are pro-business but ones that are pro-market.
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1
The Profit Paradox: How Thriving Firms Threaten the Future of Work
by Jan Eeckhout -
2
The Great Reversal: How America Gave up on Free Markets
by Thomas Philippon -
3
How Antitrust Failed Workers
by Eric A. Posner -
4
Competition is Killing Us: How Big Business is Harming Our Society and Planet
by Michelle Meagher -
5
The Antitrust Paradigm: Restoring a Competitive Economy
by Jonathan B. Baker
The best books on Antitrust, recommended by Howard Smith
The best books on Antitrust, recommended by Howard Smith
Across sectors and around the world fewer and fewer companies dominate the economy, with negative consequences for consumers, workers and the economy as a whole. Here, Oxford economist Howard Smith introduces books on ‘antitrust,’ a key policy tool for ensuring that markets are actually functioning properly in market economies.
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1
Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists
by Luigi Zingales & Raghuram G Rajan -
2
Exit, Voice, and Loyalty
by Albert Hirschman -
3
Antitrust Paradox
by Robert H. Bork -
4
Lectures on Antitrust Economics
by Michael D. Whinston -
5
Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society
by E. Glen Weyl & Eric A. Posner
The best books on Market Competition, recommended by Jason Furman
The best books on Market Competition, recommended by Jason Furman
Despite the large number of brands, most Americans buy their beer from just two companies. Consumer choice in the new digital economy is hardly better. Economist Jason Furman, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under Barack Obama and now a professor at Harvard, recommends books to better understand market competition.
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1
A Hacker's Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society's Rules, and How to Bend them Back
by Bruce Schneier -
2
Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires
by Douglas Rushkoff -
3
Responding to the Right: Brief Replies to 25 Conservative Arguments
by Nathan Robinson -
4
Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power
by David Dayen -
5
Break 'Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money
by Zephyr Teachout
The best books on Chokepoint Capitalism, recommended by Cory Doctorow
The best books on Chokepoint Capitalism, recommended by Cory Doctorow
Modern market economies face a growing malaise, says activist and science fiction author Cory Doctorow: powerful actors creating ‘chokepoints’ between producers and consumers, causing untenable conditions for both. Here he picks out the best books he’s reviewed over the last two years and explains why they’re important.