A history of antitrust policy may not sound like the most compelling raw material for a page turner. But the book is an impressive work of scholarship, deeply researched — it has over 200 pages of footnotes — highly informative and surprisingly readable in the bargain ... The great virtue of Klobuchar’s history is that it takes us back to the formative years of antitrust, when the operating rules governing American capitalism were still very much in flux. It is a reminder that the way industries are organized and markets allowed to function are not determined by inexorable forces outside our control but are matters of social and political choice ... There is little to argue with here. Nevertheless, it is hard to believe that this is all it will take to arrest and reverse decades of growing corporate power and fundamentally change the economic landscape in the United States ... Klobuchar has probably exaggerated the adverse consequences of the last 30 years of laissez-faire policy toward corporate power, and the same reasoning causes her to overstate the potency of reversing it. Perhaps she should temper her enthusiasm, evident throughout this book, for Woodrow Wilson and his zeal for a vigorous antitrust policy, and rebalance it with some of Theodore Roosevelt’s skepticism.
Klobuchar reviews past monopolies, starting with a certain tea party, and continuing through the Gilded Age and the Sherman Act to current day, providing plenty of social, political, and legislative context ... She argues for swift, sweeping reform in economic, legislative, social welfare, and human rights policies. A steady stream of period political cartoons help keep things lively, and her style is engaging and energetic. Expect significant interest.
Antitrust is both a good book and a historic and important one—because Klobuchar, as the chair of the Senate Judicary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, is likely to oversee major changes to antitrust law ... Klobuchar is a skilled politician and excellent storyteller, so Antitrust is full of colorful characters (and old lithographed cartoons and pictures to match) ... In the last three chapters, Klobuchar describes what to do about the crisis ... The complexity of this section is overwhelming, and the writing, which had been so fluid and enjoyable, starts to wander. Klobuchar can sound like a prairie populist ... it’s hard to connect the historical section with the set of solutions ... she doesn’t explain how her proposals would address the deep-rooted problem of today’s largely pro-monopoly judiciary ... Klobuchar’s most important recommendation is where she really shines and where her book, with its colorful portrayals of what Americans did to free themselves of monopoly, is at its best. She calls for a mass movement against monopolies, similar to those that she argues animated American history.
... is at its most readable as Klobuchar frames the issue historically, breezily recounting episodes of American and Minnesota history while occasionally weaving in bits of family and professional experience ... Later chapters, as Klobuchar digs deep into federal antitrust law and various congressional proposals, get a bit more dry (she acknowledges major help from her law professor husband, who helped with the legal content and wrote the book's voluminous endnotes) ... Antitrust policy doesn't seem like the juiciest angle for an ambitious national politician. Klobuchar acknowledges the wonky nature of the issue, and even proposes a rebranding. Antitrust law, Klobuchar writes, should become 'competition policy.'
... a serious and important contribution that will help build momentum for reform ... primarily a policy book, and Klobuchar spends much of it offering 25 recommendations to increase competition. These range from the very broad to the extremely specific to the practical. Throughout, she references her own proposed legislation on the topic. And as Klobuchar is chair of the Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on competition policy, antitrust, and consumer rights, her proposals are likely to be one of the starting points for reform.
Readers may already recognize the Amy Klobuchar we saw on the 2020 presidential campaign trail: smart, well-informed, and ready to tell you why she is the woman for the job. In fact, parts of the book that address our contemporary economy read like a briefing book ... Klobuchar puts the horrors of this new Gilded Age into historical context ... Klobuchar makes a forceful argument for regulation ... while Klobuchar is pushing us, as a public, to embrace and support the political changes that can break the hold bigness has on us. If monopolies won’t change, we can.
... surprisingly engaging and accessible, despite its dense, complicated topic. She presents the human impact of antitrust issues ... While journalists often speak about the need for tax reform to address income inequality, Klobuchar deftly argues that tackling America's anticompetitive business atmosphere is just as important to improving citizens’ lives. The second half of the book lays out a sensible road map with concrete policy strategies and priorities, representing the kind of pragmatic action the senator is known for. Occasional images and charts help to clarify details of antitrust legislation ... Even readers with only minimal knowledge of American business or the economy will be able to follow Klobuchar’s analysis of anticompetitive business practices, and they may be surprised by how engaging the topic can be. A must for every public and academic library.
... both a diligently researched history lesson and a well thought out plan, meticulously delineated ... n addition to sketching the beliefs of the Chicago versus Harvard schools of thought on monopolies, Klobuchar examines key cases in the digital age (AT&T, Microsoft), alarming mergers in high tech and health care industries, and suits brought against Google and Facebook. The author also clearly shows how the previous administration’s pro-business stance led to significant reductions in important resources like antitrust lawyers. The final section, 'The Path Forward,' is a staggeringly detailed, impressively documented and presented 'list of the Top 25 recommendations to improve competition in our nation' ... Solid, sharp, articulate work—not just advertising for a possible 2024 presidential run.
... [an] expansive history and wonky call to action ... Klobuchar covers well-trod historical ground and gets deep into the policy weeds, but she makes a persuasive argument for reinvigorating the government agencies tasked with reigning in big business. Those on the left should take note
