Tech moguls are accumulating power at levels unseen since the Gilded Age, and their grip is strangling democratic institutions, according to Mordecai Kurz, a Stanford economist who has spent years studying the connection between monopoly control and political decline.
Kurz's new book, Private Power and Democracy's Decline, arriving May 19, traces a troubling historical pattern: whenever technological innovation concentrates in the hands of a handful of billionaires, democracy weakens. The industrialists of the late 1800s convinced themselves they were biologically superior and destined to shape society. Today's tech leaders operate from similar convictions. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, has described artificial intelligence in almost mystical terms as a transcendent good, while simultaneously acknowledging it could trigger mass unemployment.
The cost of unchecked monopoly power shows in real wages. New Deal policies of the 1930s and 1940s capped corporate dominance and sparked what Kurz calls a "half-century of sustained innovations, rapid economic growth and stable income distribution." When Ronald Reagan-era deregulation reversed those protections, a second Gilded Age began. Tech firms hoarded wealth and market share while blue-collar workers watched their wages flatten as living costs climbed. Kurz argues this economic betrayal, not cultural backlash, fueled the rise of Maga politics.
Innovation itself has become a casualty. New startups no longer aim to disrupt the market. They're built from the ground up expecting acquisition by a tech giant. Collaboration between competitors has replaced genuine competition. Without the blessing of an established monopoly, no new innovator can survive.
The monopolies weaponize their platforms to amplify the damage. Tech giants profit from polarization on their largely unregulated social networks. When falsehoods drive engagement and boost revenue, platforms have little incentive to police misinformation. Kurz argues they should face legal liability for the lies they knowingly amplify.
Artificial intelligence threatens to expand the crisis. Automation has already displaced workers without college degrees. AI's next wave targets doctors, lawyers, and engineers. Each displacement widens the pool of economically abandoned citizens vulnerable to authoritarian appeals.
Yet Kurz sees a path forward. History shows that extreme consolidation of power eventually triggers reform. The coalition holding power now, he argues, is inherently unstable. It combines old-guard Republicans, white supremacists, and former factory workers united only by economic desperation. "When you talk to any normal, intelligent American, they will tell you something is wrong in America and something has to change," Kurz said. That coalition will fracture when economic conditions shift.
The reform cycle Kurz envisions has clear parameters. Government must tax and redistribute the excess wealth tech monopolies accumulate. Workers displaced by AI need subsidized education and retraining. Companies that hire retrained workers should receive incentives. Most critically, policy must ensure AI enhances worker productivity rather than replacing the workforce entirely.
"Capitalism has to become more humane. It has to be more regulated," Kurz said. "And in democracy, we don't leave anybody behind."
The path to that reform won't be smooth. "Trumpism will not go in a whimper," he warned. Economic crisis may arrive before democracy can rebuild. But the conditions for change, he believes, are ripening.
Author James Rodriguez: "Kurz is painting a dire picture, but he's right that the current moment feels unsustainable. The real question is whether reform comes through the ballot box or through catastrophe."
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