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A concise yet century-spanning exploration of the power of platforms, what the future of capitalism will look like, and how to build economies that provide equality and lasting prosperity. In every society, there has been an essential platform--a central marketplace--where people come to buy, sell, and make their living. While each culture and era are distinct, all have such a platform to serve as the beating heart of the economy. Over most of human history, these platforms have been public and physical: city centers, ports, shopping streets, and stock markets. Today, however, these arenas are more sophisticated, largely privatized, and virtual: they are digital, accessible anywhere, and anchored by the Internet itself. The way these platforms operate determines how the economy works, who it benefits and fails, and how society functions. Now, Tim Wu--the preeminent legal scholar who coined the phrase “net neutrality”--explores what these platforms tell us about our worlds, and why it is so crucial that they are fair and equal.
About the author
TIM WU is Julius Silver Professor of Law, Science and Technology at Columbia Law School. He served as special assistant to the president for technology and competition policy under the Biden administration, worked on competition policy in the Obama White House and the Federal Trade Commission, and served as senior enforcement counsel at the New York Office of the Attorney General. The author of The Master Switch and The Attention Merchants, he lives in New York City.
