The Majority Report with Sam Seder
Episode 3576 – "The Age of Extraction" with Tim Wu
Date: February 9, 2026
Guest: Tim Wu, Professor of Law at Columbia University, author of The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered Our Economy and Threatened Our Future Prosperity
Episode Overview
Sam Seder hosts Tim Wu for a deep dive into the evolution of tech platforms and their impacts on the economy, democracy, and society at large. The conversation explores the history and present dominance of tech giants, the nature of platforms, monopoly, antitrust policy shortcomings, and actionable solutions to restore balance in the economic system. The tone is informed, critical, and accessible, with anecdotes and historical context grounding complex issues in everyday experience.
Key Discussion Points and Insights
1. Defining “Platforms” and Their Historical Roots
[24:00] Tim Wu:
- Explains platforms’ centrality to civilizations from ancient Greece onward—places where people meet, exchange, and communicate, from the Greek agora to modern tech platforms.
- Today’s difference: platforms no longer serve the public square but have become private, commercial spaces with immense power.
2. The Lost Promise of the Internet
[25:52] Tim Wu:
- Reminisces about the 1990s optimism that the Internet would democratize wealth and access, empower creativity, and expand democracy.
- Marks a shift around 2012–2013: platforms become “extractive,” aggressively monetizing users and entrenching monopolies.
3. Monopoly and the Extractive Turn
[27:09] Tim Wu:
- Pinpoints tech’s extractive era as coinciding with monopoly consolidation—Amazon, Google, and Meta (Facebook) eliminate or buy up competitors and ratchet up their “take” (fees, data, advertising).
- Amazon’s seller fee more than doubled over a decade; Google bought Waze; Meta absorbed Instagram and WhatsApp.
- "That’s when the ‘enshittification’ begins." [29:53 Wu]
4. Where Were the Antitrust Enforcers?
[30:10] Emma Vigeland; [30:19] Tim Wu:
- Obama-era antitrust enforcers were largely asleep at the wheel, infected by neoliberal faith in markets and a special reverence for tech.
- Example: Google’s acquisition of Waze brushed aside, although it was a classic monopoly case.
Wu [31:09]:
“We thought of Google as kind of like a charity and we were really nice to them, but we weren’t thinking straight about the dangers of private power.”
5. Herding, Addiction, and the Power of Convenience
[33:13] Sam Seder & Tim Wu:
- Platforms compete to corral “herds” of loyal, dependent users, maximizing screen time and engagement.
- Design borrows from casino and gambling psychology (addictiveness), taking advantage of users’ time scarcity and tendency towards convenience.
Wu [34:58]:
“If you want my one business lesson from this book—it’s that convenience is the most powerful force in human behavior right now.”
6. Platforms, Economic Squeeze, and Societal Malaise
[37:04] Tim Wu:
- Argues that tech-driven productivity gains have not led to increased leisure or well-being for average Americans—they’ve merely intensified the squeeze on workers.
- Popular delivery apps and services are illustrative—convenience exists because people are overworked and underpaid.
7. Extraction and the Disappearance of Shared Gains
[40:35] Tim Wu:
- “We are living in the age of extraction.”
- Productivity gains accrue to platform owners, not workers, exacerbating inequality and hollowing out the middle class.
8. Democratic Risks and The Real ‘Road to Serfdom’
[42:04] Tim Wu:
- Critiques the persistent faith that market “self-correction” will fix monopoly and extraction—contrary to Hayek’s classical thesis, concentrated economic power undermines democracy, breeds resentment, and encourages authoritarianism.
9. Redistribution Isn’t Enough: The Need for Structural Reforms
[44:48] Tim Wu & Emma Vigeland:
- Automatic “post-facto” redistributive remedies (such as high taxes on wealth) are insufficient—politically fraught and easily undermined by concentrated power.
- “By the time you try to tax, the deck is already stacked.”
- Emphasizes need for pre-distributive policies—restoring competitive markets and breaking up/existing monopoly powers.
10. Algorithms and Social Outcomes
[48:25] Sam Seder; [50:03] Tim Wu:
- Seder floats the radical idea of simply banning individualized suggestion algorithms as an antitrust remedy, akin to past media regulations.
- Wu notes legal, constitutional hurdles (First Amendment claims by platforms), but agrees algorithms foster echo chambers and self-absorption, and that Congress could—and should—act.
Wu [50:28]:
“I feel like [algorithms] are in some fundamental tension with freedom... they kind of stew you in your own juices.”
11. Antitrust as a Democracy Project
[54:26] Sam Seder:
- Argues that antitrust was always intended as a centerpiece of democratic, not just economic, policy.
- The turn to Chicago School economics (Bork, consumer-welfare test) perverted original intent.
- Wu: Most solutions don’t require new laws—only using existing ones as originally intended.
12. Need for Systemic Change & Legal Education
[60:37] Sam Seder & Tim Wu:
- Confidence that the new wave of legal scholars and students—thanks to reinvigorated interest in monopoly and antitrust—will help reorient the field away from neoliberal economic orthodoxy and toward its original purpose: decentralizing power.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- [29:53] Tim Wu: “That’s when the enshittification begins.”
- [31:09] Tim Wu: “We thought of Google as kind of like a charity and we were really nice to them, but we weren’t thinking straight about the dangers of private power.”
- [34:58] Tim Wu: “Convenience is the most powerful force in human behavior right now.”
- [40:35] Tim Wu: “We are living in the age of extraction… all of us have the capability that six people had 20 years ago… but where has that surplus gone?”
- [50:28] Tim Wu: “I feel like [algorithms] are in some fundamental tension with freedom… everybody becomes these comic book characters of themselves.”
- [56:44] Sam Seder: “What is the mechanism to inhibit Ronald Reagan part two, coming in and just reinterpreting the laws in such a way that you could fundamentally derail antitrust…?”
Important Timestamps
- [24:00] — Defining platforms, their history and significance
- [25:52] — The promise of the internet and when it soured
- [27:09] — The emergence of monopoly power and “extraction”
- [30:10] — The failure of antitrust enforcement (Obama era)
- [33:56] — Herding, addiction, convenience, and user dependence
- [40:35] — Explaining “the age of extraction”
- [42:04] — Societal risks: economic imbalance leads to rising authoritarianism
- [44:48] — Limits of redistribution; need for pre-distribution and competition
- [48:25] — Algorithmic recommendation as a democracy/anti-monopoly policy
- [54:26] — Antitrust as a democracy project and its original intent
- [60:37] — Legal academic change: Antitrust's new generation
Tone and Style
- Candid, slightly irreverent, and critical but never cynical—aimed at informing and empowering listeners.
- Complex topics explained with historical anecdotes, contemporary examples, and plain language.
- Frequent humor and pop-cultural asides (e.g., “enshittification”) make dense material accessible.
Summary Takeaway
This episode stitches together tech history, legal analysis, and economic critique to argue that the unchecked rise of platform monopolies has derailed the Internet’s original promise, siphoned value from average citizens, and threatens democracy itself. While redistributive measures like taxation remain necessary but insufficient, the core solution lies in reactivating antitrust policy as originally intended—to break up concentrations of private power, ensure competitive markets, and protect political as well as economic freedoms. New legal thinking and political will are the imperative first steps.
For additional reading and resources: See Tim Wu, The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered Our Economy and Threatened Our Future Prosperity and referenced case law and antitrust histories.