What I'm Reading

Tim Wu, The Master Switch (2010). This is one of the best books on competition policy writ large I have read in ages. Wu traces the rise and fall of information networks and empires from the telegraph to the internet and all things Bell, Hollywood, and RCA in between. It focuses on the key examples in our century when monopoly power is swept away by gales of creative destruction and more importantly when it isn't (usually where buttressed by government barriers or where the monopolist/cartel can contain or destroy the emerging disruptive technology. The Master Switch is focused on the future of the internet and the debate over net neutrality but it has lessons about regulatory policy, the importance of antitrust beyond just price competition, the relationship between market structure and control of cultural and informational content, the need for access and interconnection in a networked age, and much more. As they say, if you read competition policy book this holiday season, make this the one!