Today’s dominant tech platforms are the most effective tools ever created for extracting wealth, destabilizing the societies they exploit by creating vast inequality. One of the world’s leading anti-monopoly experts explains how and why we must take back control.

Our world is governed by a handful of tech platforms. They offer great convenience and entertainment but are also some of the most efficient instruments of wealth extraction ever devised, accumulating enormous amounts of money, data, and attention from all of us. An economy driven by technology and AI could benefit us, yet it could also marginalize entire industries, widen the wealth gap, and foster a two-tier society. As technology evolves and our markets adapt, can society develop a better way? Is it possible to balance economic growth and equality, or are we too late?

Tim Wu, a leading scholar and former White House official who coined the term ‘net neutrality,’ recounts the story of the internet that promised widespread wealth and democracy, only to facilitate the spread of autocracy instead. From generative AI and predictive social data to antitrust measures and cryptocurrency, Wu places our current situation within important lessons from recent history. And, perhaps most importantly, Wu envisions a future where technological advances serve the greatest good – for everyone.

Concise and hopeful, The Age of Extraction offers significant proposals for reclaiming control to achieve better economic balance and prosperity for all.

Pages: 224, Dimensions: 15.9x15.9cm