The current era of exploitative digital platforms was made possible by a multi-decade failure to enforce antitrust laws. This policy shift allowed companies to buy rivals (e.g., Facebook buying Instagram) and engage in predatory pricing (e.g., Uber), creating the monopolies that can now extract value without competitive consequence.

Platforms grew dominant by acquiring competitors, a direct result of failed antitrust enforcement. Cory Doctorow argues debates over intermediary liability (e.g., Section 230) are a distraction from the core issue: a decades-long drawdown of anti-monopoly law.

As traditional economic-based antitrust enforcement weakens, a new gatekeeper for M&A has emerged: political cronyism. A deal's approval may now hinge less on market concentration analysis and more on a political leader’s personal sentiment towards the acquiring CEO, fundamentally changing the risk calculus for corporate strategists.

The Democratic party's focus on antitrust, according to Warren, is not anti-business but fundamentally pro-market. By preventing monopolies, it fosters a competitive environment where companies are forced to continually innovate to succeed, unlike giants who grow complacent and raise prices.

Bill Gurley questions if America truly benefits from trillion-dollar tech monopolies. He suggests these massive market caps could indicate a lack of "pure competition," where excessive profits are captured by a few giants instead of benefiting consumers through lower prices.

Despite rapid technological change since 1971, productivity growth has been at historic lows. Marc Andreessen argues this isn't a technology failure but a policy choice, citing a massive increase in regulations that stifled progress in areas like nuclear power, transportation, and space, leading to economic stagnation.

In response to deflation and eroding profits from hyper-competition, the Chinese government's "anti-evolution" policy is a deliberate strategy to force consolidation, reduce overcapacity, and restore pricing power, thereby boosting corporate return on equity.

Recent streaming price increases, which are vastly outpacing inflation, serve as the primary evidence that the market is already too consolidated. Further mergers would grant companies like Netflix unchecked pricing power, transferring wealth from consumers and labor directly to shareholders in an oligopolistic environment.

Research for "The Myth of Capitalism" revealed that top investors frequently own dominant companies in industries with few players. This suggests that seeking out businesses with strong market positions, often due to a lack of intense competition, is a proven strategy for long-term portfolio growth and stability.