'We Are Really At A Crisis Point For Our Democracy, Economy': Sally Hubbard On Big Tech Corporations & Book 'Monopolies Suck'
(CBS Local)-- Big corporations run our economy and in the past companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon have been defined as helpful and well-intentioned business. However, author and former antitrust enforcer Sally Hubbard has much different thoughts about monopolies in our society.
In her new book "Monopolies Suck: 7 Ways Big Corporations Rule Your Life," Hubbard explains why companies like these tech giants make our lives harder every day.
"The book for me was kind of cathartic because it is what I've been working on for my whole career," said Hubbard, in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "I started as an antitrust enforcer back in 2005. There was a lot of stuff that I wanted the average person to understand, the person who is not an economist or antitrust lawyer. It felt great to get it down on paper, so I could really let people know what is going on. One of the big misconceptions is that we've been generally convinced that a lot of these companies are good for us. Big tech companies are under the most fire right now. Tech is not the only area of our company that is monopolized."
While tech companies haven't been regulated by lawmakers in the same way as other monopolies of the past, Hubbard believes it is not too late to reign in tech giants like Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook. The author says that's actually the most dangerous line of thinking when it comes to dealing with monopolies and giant corporations in our society.
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"People think it's too late and that there's nothing we can do. That I think is the most dangerous thing we can give into," said Hubbard. "I try to explain in the book that these companies are not just impacting our economic well-being, but they are leading to us paying higher prices and higher taxes. They're also really dangerous for our democracy. We're seeing that a lot with the election right now and the power of these companies to influence speech. Their business models, which are highly profitable for them, spread disinformation. For me, it's not an option to do nothing. We really are at a crisis point for our democracy and our economy."
Hubbard's book is available now wherever books are sold and watch all of DJ Sixsmith's interviews from "The Sit-Down" series here.
