Antitrust: Taking on Monopoly Power from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age.

• Author: Davenport, Spencer

Antitrust: Taking on Monopoly Power from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age

Amy Klobuchar

New York: Knopf, 2021, 588 pp.

Antitrust law is having its moment. As big tech companies thrived during the pandemic, public criticism of them has grown. In an era where bipartisan agreement is rare, one of the few things politicians can agree on is that big tech companies are a problem. In June 2021, the House Judiciary Committee announced the introduction of five bipartisan bills that aim to chip away at big tech's power.

The Biden administration has also signaled a possibility of an antitrust renaissance. President Biden appointed Lina Khan to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). A 32-year-old Columbia law professor, Khan gained national attention while in law school for her article on Amazon and antitrust law. Biden also picked Tim Wu, another critic of big tech, to join the White House National Economic Council. Those appointments as well as public sentiment indicate that antitrust law is poised for significant changes.

Thus, it is no surprise then that senators with presidential aspirations have waded into the antitrust debate. While this also applies to Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) and his recently released book The Tyranny of Big Tech, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota takes on the issue from tire Democrat side in Antitrust: Taking on Monopoly Power From the Gilded Age to the Digital Age.

Klobuchar's main aim for her book is to generate public interest in antitrust law. She recounts interactions with her constituents and how many of them recognize that something is seriously wrong with country, but are not quite sure what. She contends that many of today's societal problems are a result of lax antitrust laws and their enforcement. She also argues that, with updated and more robustly enforced laws, these problems would be lessened, if not resolved. Thoroughly researched and containing dozens of political cartoons, the book is an ambitious contribution to the current antitrust discourse.

The book is at its best in die first four chapters as she weaves in her family's history with the history of antitrust law. In the introduction, Klobuchar explains why she is writing this book and how she became involved in fighting monopolies. Drugmaker Ovation had control of a drug used to treat babies with heart defects. In 2006, Ovation--through a merger--secured control of the only other drug used to treat that condition. After acquiring the drug, the price per...