The Political Orphanage
The Political Orphanage
The Man Who Killed Antitrust
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The Man Who Killed Antitrust

Why We Stopped Breaking Up Big Companies

When does a successful company become a dangerous monopoly? Heaton traces the strange history of American antitrust law, from railroad barons and Standard Oil to Hollywood studios and Big Tech, before diving into the intellectual cage match between Louis Brandeis and Robert Bork. Should regulators worry about corporations getting too big and powerful, or only step in when consumers actually get hurt? Along the way, Heaton encounters natural monopolies, vertical integration, glitter cartels, cowboy boots, suspiciously powerful coffin companies, and the surprisingly difficult question of what even counts as a market.

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