Books like The New Deal and the Problem of Monopoly

This is the tenth in a charming series of children’s books about Freddy the Pig and the other talking animals on the Bean farm that began in the early 20th century, two decades before Orwell’s Animal Farm.

Freddy has been called a renaissance pig—a detective, poet, pilot, newspaper editor, and much more. 

In this story, the rapacious owner of the local newspaper employs various underhanded tactics to shut down the rival paper edited by Freddy. The scheme is thwarted when Freddy’s lawyer, Old Whibley the owl, convinces a judge that the would-be monopolist engaged in “kidnapping, theft, and conspiracy in restraint of trade.”

As is evident, by the 1940s, when the book was published, antitrust was recognized in popular culture as the legal tool for protecting the victims of unfair competitive tactics—which is still how we see it today. 

This is a wide-ranging, thought-provoking, accessible, informed, lively, and convincing economic history of the “long” 20th century (1870 to 2010). 

Among its many narratives, the book shows how “thirty glorious years of social democracy” ended around 1975 when the U.S. and other economies in the global north took “the neoliberal turn” in favor of relying more on the market to organize society. 

That history is essential context for understanding why the U.S. Supreme Court, beginning in the late 1970s and 1980s, relaxed the “structural era” antitrust rules in place since the 1940s, which had emphasized skepticism about growing concentration and the conduct of large firms in concentrated markets. 

The book also emphasizes the importance of technology-driven economic growth for human well-being. That perspective helps make the case today for economic policies that promote competition among firms, which fosters productivity and growth.

The antitrust rules introduced in the late 1970s and 1980s are largely still in place. 

In important ways, those rules were shaped by the economic analyses and arguments of well-known scholars associated with the University of Chicago.

Since then, microeconomics has been transformed using concepts from game theory, and economic thinking about the competitive consequences of firm practices has changed. This economic-based guide to business strategy distills key concepts that underlie modern antitrust analysis, which is a close cousin to business strategy.

The book lays out those concepts clearly and accessibly, with instructive case studies and minimal jargon. These ideas from economic theory, combined with new empirical tools and data, are the basis for the recent economic research that finds that today’s antitrust rules are inadequate to prevent the acquisition and exercise of market power. 

Information technology is reshaping the economy and has raised novel competition concerns. 

Many of the highest-profile antitrust cases involve giant firms in the information technology sector, from IBM and Microsoft in the past to Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Meta today.

This business strategy book, written by two leading economists, taught a generation of business leaders how to navigate the competitive challenges that arise in information industries. It explains simply and clearly, with useful examples, concepts like network effects and lock-in that form the essential economic background for understanding both the business strategy problems that are the focus of the book and the antitrust issues that can arise in this sector.  

Bombay-born Indo-American Thrity Umrigar tells the story of Anton, a neglected biracial boy adopted into a white family. Umrigar stretches past boundaries of race, class, and gender to bring us a tale of moral choices made from power, helplessness, or the neighborhood we live in – and the uncomfortable truths that ensue. I am always impressed by Umrigar’s transparent prose that allows her story and characters to shine through, but even more so in this novel where her characters are not brown but black or white. 

One of my favorite groundbreaking explorations of the interwoven structures of power in American society. Mills posits that a small, cohesive group of elites—comprising leaders from the military, corporate, and political spheres—wields disproportionate influence over the nation’s decisions and direction. He challenges the notion of a democratic society, arguing that this elite class operates independently of the masses, shaping policies that often serve their interests rather than the common good.

Mills calls for awareness and engagement from the public, urging individuals to recognize the forces that govern their lives. By illuminating the dynamics of power, he inspires a collective consciousness that can lead to a more equitable society. Ultimately, it serves as a clarion call for empowerment and action, reminding us that understanding the structures of power is the first step toward meaningful change.

Many people know that American democracy and capitalism have been on a downward spiral for decades. The system is rigged, former Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich sounds the alarm throughout his excellent book The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It. He goes deep into these questions as he supports the provocative thesis that despite acrimonious partisan polarization, the real contest is not between the right and left but between democracy and oligarchy; and that the vast majority of citizens (Republicans, Democrats, and Independents) are getting poorer and wield “near-zero” political power. Oligarchs—JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon is their embodiment—have amassed enormous sums of capital and political power, which allows them to further rig the system through campaign contributions, successful lobbying, and even criminal actions for which, if caught, they only pay nominal fines.

You are in the house and the house is in the woods.
You are in the house and the house is in you.

If these words don’t send a tingle down your spine, or don’t make you suddenly aware of the house surrounding you, then we aren’t the same. Thomas’ feverish debut is the perfect example of “dark academia” done right.

Catherine House is not a home. It’s a mysterious school. Every student seems to have something odd hidden in the past. Students are encouraged to cultivate school spirit that goes well beyond the usual measures. They become one with Catherine House, submitting to cryptic experiments, cutting off contact with the outside world. 

I love the way Thomas explores the ways an institution can exploit while pretending to protect.

Heather Richardson is one of our best historians. I love her brilliance, and I love that she knows the material well enough to explain it simply to the novice.

I read her previous book, and this next one didn't disappoint. If I could only read one book on how the USA has come to this, Democracy Awakening would be it. I recommend it for anyone who would finally like to try democracy in a USA where race no longer predicts outcomes!

Whereas Hessler’s book is about a country gradually opening up to the west, Suki Kim’s book is about a country completely isolated.

Kim works for six months in North Korea at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, a school for the boys of the ruling elite. While living there, rather than connecting with her students, she is unsettled by how deep the country’s deceptions are.

The university, although claiming to be a school for science and industry, has neither labs nor modern technology. Her travel is circumscribed and carefully scripted. The students lie effortlessly about things of little consequence. The entire country seems to be built on holograms and shadows. She travels as teacher, but in the end serves as journalist, seeking the truth behind a country that the world barely understands.