Books › The Curse of Bigness
The Curse of Bigness
192 pages
An urgent, historically grounded warning about the democratic dangers of unchecked corporate monopolies and a rallying cry for progressive reform.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting in on a gripping, high-stakes lecture by a deeply concerned historian. The pace is brisk and purposeful, driven by an urgent need to connect the economic anxieties of the present with the forgotten lessons of the past. The mood is sobering and foreboding, steeped in the shadows of twentieth-century political extremism, yet it ultimately pivots toward a resolute, rallying energy. The prose is authoritative and accessible, stripping away the jargon of specialist lawyers and economists to lay bare the democratic threats of corporate concentration. It is a deeply analytical yet passionate read that will captivate anyone worried about modern monopolies, economic inequality, and the fragile balance between massive industry and democratic freedom.
- Mood
- foreboding
- serious
- resolute
- intellectually stimulating
- Tone
- urgent
- analytical
- cautionary
- persuasive
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- corporate power vs. democracy · historical cycles of inequality · the dangers of monopolies · progressive reform
- The writing
- Clear, authoritative, and historically grounded, translating complex economic and legal concepts into accessible, urgent warnings.
- The arc
- Moves from a sobering diagnosis of modern economic concentration to a historical reflection on past triumphs, culminating in an urgent call for progressive reform.
- Who it's for
- Readers who are concerned about corporate monopolies, economic inequality, and the historical intersections of law, business, and democracy.
Content notes
- discussions of political extremism
- references to fascism
- economic inequality
About the book
"We live in an age of extreme corporate concentration, in which global industries are controlled by just a few giant firms -- big banks, big pharma, and big tech, just to name a few. But concern over what Louis Brandeis called the "curse of bigness" can no longer remain the province of specialist lawyers and economists, for it has spilled over into policy and politics, even threatening democracy itself. History suggests that tolerance of inequality and failing to control excessive corporate power may prompt the rise of populism, nationalism, extremist politicians, and fascist regimes. In short, as Wu warns, we are in grave danger of repeating the signature errors of the twentieth century. In The Curse of Bigness, Columbia professor Tim Wu tells of how figures like Brandeis and Theodore Roosevelt first confronted the democratic threats posed by the great trusts of the Gilded Age--but the lessons of the Progressive Era were forgotten in the last 40 years. He calls for recovering the lost tenets of the trustbusting age as part of a broader revival of American progressive ideas as we confront the fallout of persistent and extreme economic inequality."--
Description from Open Library.
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