Slate Daily Feed Slate Money | Money Talks: Don't Be Evil-ish
Dec 9, 2025
In a compelling discussion with Elizabeth Spiers, Tim Wu, a Columbia Law School professor and tech policy expert, dives into the themes of his book, The Age of Extraction. He unpacks the profit-driven mindset of Big Tech and traces the roots of extractive corporate behavior to IBM and Microsoft. Wu critiques the erosion of corporate ethics and shares concerns about monopolization's threats to democracy. He also advocates for regulatory reform, decentralized capitalism, and expresses cautious optimism about the anti-monopoly movement's potential for change.
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Platforms Are Distinct From Product Businesses
- Tim Wu explains platforms host interactions between buyers and sellers and differ from traditional product businesses.
- He traces modern tech platforms to IBM and Microsoft as early extractive models.
Extraction Is Structural, Not Fate
- Extraction isn't inevitable; structure and incentives determine whether a platform extracts value.
- Wikipedia shows a large platform can avoid extraction by choosing different governance and funding models.
Public Markets Pushed Platforms To Extract
- Public-company pressures and shareholder primacy pushed idealistic tech firms toward extractive behavior.
- Google promised different governance at IPO but largely abandoned those commitments, Wu argues.
