Things could go one of three ways (says the FT)

Maybe the reason Trump seems to hate Denmark, Canada, Norway, Minnesota and Vermont so much is that they are nice, decent places that work pretty well -- in other words, the opposite of everything Trump stands for.

Airlines are required to list their "all-in" prices, instead of tricking you with a $49 bait price and piling on fees, taxes etc at the final point of sale. Seems to me that's a pretty good model for most if not all of the economy.

There is something sad and but funny about Donald Trump inadvertently taking up a left-wing concern -- the plight of the "debanked" and "unbanked" www.npr.org/2026/01/22/n...

"Antitrust and Industrial Policy: A Misunderstood Relationship." This is a new draft academic paper I've been working on for a while (serious comments welcome). It suggests that the antitrust regime should be understood as a part of the industrial policy toolkit. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Netflix? Paramount? They are both terrible for Warner Bros www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/o...

The point of having merger guidelines and structural presumptions is to discourage firms from attempting illegal mergers. Unfortunately Trump has given everyone the impression that they can get their deal through with kickbacks and ass-kissing

You can get my new book at one of these fine vendors www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/691177...

The law should send a simple message: Warner Bros, if you want to sell, maybe try finding a buyer who is not a direct competitor?

In a sign of how times have changed, in 1959 economists Turner and Keysen proposed a commission to breakup firms "where, for 5 years or more, one company has accounted for 50 percent or more of annual sales in the market, or four or fewer companies have accounted for 80 percent of sales”

My take on the ruling in the antitrust case against Facebook (Meta) - gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...

Amazing semi-lost letter from Theodore Roosevelt denouncing paid critics of antitrust and "law-defying corporations of immense wealth who ... expect[] others to treat them beyond and above any possible check from law"

Last chance to catch book event in SF this evening -- www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2025-...

Had a great show today on my fave radio show from when I lived in SF -- KQED Forum -- listen here. www.kqed.org/forum/201010...

The craziest thing about the Senate D capitulation is that the Trump administration was taking the blame and showing weakness in so many ways, including losing elections. What a time to fold!

In San Francisco and experiencing that feeling when you realize you've been exposed to way too much propaganda. I mean ut has always had bad areas but remains a beautiful and vibrant city to stroll around in.

Eleven years ago Zephyr Teachout and I ran a campaign against Cuomo to uproot the corruption he had brought to New York and his lack of respect for the democratic process. Yesterday was a good day! www.politico.com/states/new-y...

🎧 New on Winging It: I talk with Prof Tim Wu @superwuster.bsky.social, author of the new book "The Age of Extraction" — how the Internet went from great promise to an extraction dynamic, what it means for #AI policy, & how to build a fairer digital economy.🤖 Link: open.spotify.com/episode/0ZL5...

Wish this was a better photo of Barry Lynn, Lina Khan, myself and Jonathan Kanter but it certainly captures a lot of recent anti-monopoly thinking in one frame

Book tour starting next week -- coming to a city near you (probably) timwu.net#booktour

The American framers and thinkers of that time were so well versed in Roman history and the dynamics that led republics to perpetual dictatorship -- this generation more likely to think the problem with Caesar is that the buffet is overpriced www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2024/...

NY Times essay adapted from my new book, "The Age of Extraction." Gift link here: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/25/o...

If you are around Oxford (UK) I'm giving a talk at the law school this Thursday at 12 at the IECL seminar room. Topic is: "The Servile State revisited" -- it is reconsideration of distributism as an alternative to brutal capitalism and communism. Open to public

I used to work in the NY AG's office. The federal indictment of Letitia James is disgusting and embarrassing. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

Las Vegas is a microcosm of the broader US economy. Mergers have led to duopoly/oligopoly. A corporate extraction imperative leads to price hikes where hotels / casinos to target big spenders. Short-term profit but longterm cost to the broader ecosystem nytimes.com/2025/10/01/t...

Business has long depended on emotional attachment as strategy to create switching costs. (E.g., Cadillac). Seems utterly obvious that despite their ethical commitments, the intentional engineering of AIs to generate human emotional attachment will soon be mainstream.

If the shutdown yields nothing, when health insurance premiums soar as projected, who do Republicans think Americans will blame? Obama?

Finalized my 2025 book tour! Coming through New York, DC, Chicago, Toronto, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Oxford and Cambridge. Click here for details: timwu.net#booktour

For my new book, THE AGE OF EXTRACTION, here is the UK cover and the USA cover. Curious which people prefer.

From last week's meeting of winning progressive campaigns in UK/Canada/Australia - Left-leaning parties need tap into national pride, specifically concerning healthcare or threats to economic wellbeing; - Focus on affordability and economics essential; must resist distractions.

It is weird and not healthy to begin every day wondering: "What outrageous thing will the U.S. government do today? Will it be unethical, unconstitutional, or all of the above?"

The lack of any real Republican objection to the open and explicit abuse of the DoJ to target a political enemy is terrifying

Here in London listening to the PMs of England, Canada, Iceland and Australia gives a real sense of hope

The Extraction Imperative: that the highest purpose of business lies not in creating value but finding novel ways to take more money and intangible assets from everyone else; i.e., achieving full use of every iota of market power.

Pick your poison in this debate: absolutist gun rights advocates or haters of transgender people? www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Google remedy order is a paradox. Says "Google cannot use the same anticompetitive playbook for its GenAI products that it used for Search." But it then says payments for default placement are fine? The government should appeal the remedy order.

The most important question about the Google remedy just released is whether it will effectively prevent Google from pushing Gemini on distributors / everyone www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/o...

This Supreme Court is a weird mix of activist and cowardly: they know that the President is violating the Constitution and precedent, but don’t want to get on his bad side, so they signal party loyalty by beating up on district court judges. www.stevevladeck.com/p/174-justic...

A common error in the analysis of antitrust remedies is to see them in isolation from market forces. The best remedies use the market to accomplish its goals.

Must-read inside account of the corruption of antitrust enforcement by the DoJ front office by Roger Alford www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Announcing my new book THE AGE OF EXTRACTION - presenting a vision of how to retake broad prosperity in the platform age. Coming Nov. 4. "Startling .. An urgent wake-up call" - Publishers Weekly Preorder your copy today: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/691177...

August is when Presidential honeymoons end -- looks like Trump is down to 38% in Pew's latest and he lacks the ability to fire this statistician pewresearch.org/wp-content/u...

Charles I 1630s is the best historic precedent for our moment. That King relied on tariffs, fees & selling monopoly to avoid Parliament & its taxation power. Parliament, angry, eventually declared war on the King; he was put on trial and convicted. www.parliament.uk/about/living...

Reading a newish classic: How Democracies Die revista.drclas.harvard.edu/how-democrac...

The United States is undergoing a major ideological shift in economic terms: from a modified free-market approach to command capitalism www.nytimes.com/2025/01/29/o...

The problem with housing affordability is no joke; but assuming there's one cause or one solution is laughable

Here are more details on how portable mortgages would open up housing supply: www.nytimes.com/2024/05/06/o...

Mussolini (purportedly) made the trains run on time. If Trump wants a project he should force the freight train industry to provide good & reliable service to American shippers instead of trying to pump their stock prices

Forget zoning for a min -- the US housing market would work better (more housing supply) if you could take your mortgage with you. I.e. sell your house and secure the mortgage with the new house. Portable mortgages are common in the UK and Canada: www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/po...

Looks like E. J. Antoni, the new nominee for BLS head is a critic of "artificially" low interest rates. Let's see how that pans out www.heritage.org/markets-and-...