Tim Wu, the prominent Columbia Law School professor formerly part of the Biden administration, has returned with a declaration: Contemporary American commerce has regressed into a structure characterized by the amassing of market dominance and “extraction,” fostering a deep feeling of “economic resentment” throughout the country.
TL;DR
- Tim Wu argues American commerce now focuses on market dominance and extraction, causing economic resentment.
- He believes this shift from creating good products to extracting value fuels political instability and unfairness.
- Wu suggests the NFL's regulated market, with its salary cap and draft, offers a model for economic improvement.
- He contrasts the NFL's success with MLB's "out of control spending" and advocates for a return to broad-based wealth.
In a conversation with Coins2Day following the debut of his latest book, The Age of Extraction, Wu linked the present political instability to a broad sentiment that “our system is not fair.” He posits that this widespread fury originates from people feeling “out-powered, as opposed to out-competed,” which generates considerably more bitterness than experiencing defeat in a just contest.
Wu identifies the central issue as a change in corporate objectives: transitioning from developing “a good product that people want to buy because it’s good,” to systems aiming for “find power over someone and suck as much as you can out of them.” Wu conceded his perspective bears a strong resemblance to recent writings of his longtime associate, Cory Doctorow; despite Doctorow's focus primarily on technology, he recognized their viewpoints are fundamentally alike. “I think that that is kind of an economy-wide problem. Everything kind of just creeps. It’s that weird feeling of something you like becoming worse.”
Wu attributed it to a “lack of discipline,”, stating that numerous businesses allow matters to stagnate in today's extraction era. He noted that robust rivals, legal mandates, and a firm's workforce can all instill a sense of order, “but none of those are very strong right now in so many markets …a lack of discipline lets firms get away with making their products and services worse.”. Looking at the broader picture, this pattern questions the core concept of American advancement, particularly within the technology sector, which is expected to be the “invention industry” engine of continuous enhancement.
“My understanding of America is that it’s the place where things are supposed to get better,” Wu said. Living in an age when so many things are getting worse instead “cuts at the core of the idea of America, but also the tech industry [idea] of progress,” he argued—but he does see an unlikely solution.
Wu, a sports enthusiast, pointed to a prime instance of a well-regulated market. He stated that in this market, conditions aren't deteriorating, nor are resources being exploited. It's a high-quality offering that consumers desire due to its inherent value: the National Football League. He suggested that the NFL demonstrates the significance of equitable regulations, which are “aggressive rebalancing,” maintained via methods like the salary cap, the player draft, and modified game timetables.
Strategies the National Football League might employ to improve the economic landscape
Although the NFL remains a league where skill and achievement matter, it provides a mechanism for even the least successful squad “has some chance to get a great quarterback” to regain competitiveness, mirroring the trajectory of the Kansas City Chiefs, who have achieved remarkable triumphs with their star athletes Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. The notion of franchises situated in less prominent locales, such as Kansas City, consistently outperforming those in major metropolitan areas, like New York, would be inconceivable in “just an economic game,”, according to Wu. Conversely, Wu highlights Major League Baseball, which has experienced “distorted by out of control spending.” This situation leads to a significant “absurd” in available assets, leaving smaller franchises hampered by a lack of resources, rather than by subpar performance. (The prominent Los Angeles Dodgers, with the biggest payroll in baseball history, who recently secured their second consecutive World Series championship.)
The NFL’s success serves as a model for how the U.S. Economy should function. “I’m not a socialist,” Wu told Coins2Day. “In some ways, I’m here to try to not destroy capitalism, but return it to what it can be.” In his new book, Wu writes about the “extractors” and the “extracted” in language that sounds similar to the K-shaped economy dominating headlines in 2025, a shorthand for an economy where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. “I think it is closely linked,” Wu said, adding it wasn’t his intention to directly link them in his book.
“I think we have moved in the direction of an economy where the focus of business models is the accumulation of market power and then extraction, which, by definition, almost by basic microeconomics is going to result in a lot of [upward] wealth redistribution.” Wu added that he thinks many of the industries that used to provide a middle class or even upper middle class lifestyle “are being driven down in favor of a couple industries that have outsized returns,” including concentrated middlemen, certain parts of finance, and tech platforms.
If Americans are so fond of the NFL on their television each Sunday, he contended, why shouldn't the same concepts from the sports league be utilized in shaping our communities? After all, Wu notes, his past predictions have proven accurate, leading to positive outcomes for society.
Net neutrality and attention
A distinguished professor at Columbia University who The New York Times described as “an architect of Biden’s antitrust policy,” Wu has not one but several big ideas to his credit. One is “net neutrality,” the concept authored by Wu over 20 years ago that internet service providers must be agnostic about what content flows through them. This was a clear victory, as the law is still on the books. Another is about “the attention economy,” a thesis and book (The Attention Merchants) that Wu released roughly 10 years ago, sounding the alarm on how attention was turning into a commodity in the internet age and was increasingly exploited.
Wu expressed a desire for humility, yet he firmly maintains his conviction regarding the attention economy from ten years prior. “Maybe it was sort of obvious,” he stated, but the reservoir of human focus is becoming more limited and precious, and “companies are very sophisticated at essentially harvesting this resource from us at a very low price.”
As a parent (his kids are 9 and 12), Wu said he notices “people are much more sensitive” about their children using attention-economy products and believes there has been a counter-movement to reclaim attention. He notes large language models are becoming popular in a very similar way and there’s no advertising on them for now, so “it’s not like the problem has gone away and it’s not as if we are able to get away from our phones. I just think it’s better recognized.”
A tango with political maneuvering and the 'beer skirmishes'
During his discussion with Coins2Day, Wu looked back on his tenure at the Biden White House, stating it was “an important and great experience,” but expressing a desire for greater action on children's privacy concerns, as he feels a vast majority of Americans would back such laws. However, it was “impossible to get a vote on anything, any issue” during his time there. Congress “doesn’t want to let things get to a vote,”, he explained, attributing a significant portion of the stagnation to the reality that “influence of big tech over politics has just gotten so strong.”.
When questioned about any desire to re-enter public service, possibly mirroring his longtime friend Lina Khan within Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral tenure in New York, Wu simply stated he’s “very supportive of the new mayor.”. He indicated a potential for future political engagement in some capacity, but is “much more in a family mode” at present. Wu possesses a notably extensive background in public service, having been involved in antitrust enforcement at the Federal Trade Commission and contributing to competition policy for The National Economic Council during the Obama administration. In 2014, Wu ran as a Democratic contender in the primary for lieutenant governor of New York, which marked his initial encounter with Khan.
Wu recently engaged in some internal disagreements within the left regarding economic matters, as he supported Khan's viewpoint on proposals to lower the cost of hot dogs and beverages at sports venues in New York City. The “beer wars” flared up on Twitter, with Wu and Khan advocating for reduced prices, while Matt Yglesias and Jason Furman took a more moderate stance, contending that market forces should determine pricing. Wu described it as a “strange battle” and noted a perceived division on the left concerning economic issues that he doesn't entirely grasp, mentioning that he has collaborated effectively with Furman previously. Broadly speaking, he feels that “our politics is very angry, partially because of economic resentment … it gets expressed in strange ways and goes in all kinds of directions.” Connecting this to his recent book, he posits that generally, “we let things go a little too far” and we “just kind of lost touch with the tradition of broad-based wealth that was the American way.”
Regarding the controversy within New York's business circles concerning Mamdani and the phrase “democratic socialism,”, Wu stated it has evolved into something of a “umbrella” label, as “a real socialist believes that all the means of production should be owned by the state” and Mamdani's democratic socialist allies aren't truly pushing for it. He suggested that while some on the progressive side might favor increased direct control over public assets, it's more a blend of that same “we’ve gone too far” sentiment. Wu further mentioned his personal alignment with Louis Brandeis, a prominent jurist from The Progressive Era who significantly shaped contemporary antitrust legislation and the “right to privacy” idea.
“If you want to talk about America drifting towards something more like Communism, it is more in this idea of real, very active state involvement” that you see in the Trump administration, which has, for instance, taken stakes in major U.S. Companies such as Intel. “That’s actually more like socialism” and what you see in a “command economy,” Wu said. He compared it to Stalinism or fascism under Mussolini, “neither of which are the most flattering labels, I realize.” It’s also, of course, similar to Chinese Communism, Wu said.
Wu expressed his hope that this scenario won't materialize. He envisioned a potential America where the concept of commerce might involve exploitation—seeking dominance over others and extracting maximum benefit—contrasting with an alternative, more favorable approach. “I think we can do better. I’m a big believer, frankly, in business. I think we need a return to like this idea you can reap what you sow, that your investments will get you somewhere.”