Is There a Libertarian Argument for Breaking up Big Tech?: Podcast
Elizabeth Warren, Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, and most of the 2020 presidential field agree that tech companies have too power. But maybe they don't like the competition.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.) wants the federal government to forcibly break apart big technology companies. Most of her competitors for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination agree, as do conservative Fox News host Tucker Carlson and (at least occasionally) President Donald Trump. Are they right about the dangerous concentration of private power?
Largely no, argue Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, Peter Suderman, and me on the latest Editors' Roundtable edition of the Reason Podcast. Still, it's worth exploring just why it is people feel disquiet about our technological moment, and what are the best ways to address the associated underlying problems. Also coming under podcast scrutiny: Betomania, the Christchurch mass murderer, J.K. Rowling's auto-fanfic, and the legendary surf-rock guitar king Dick Dale.
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Audio production by Ian Keyser.
'Ragtime Dance' by Scott Joplin is licensed under Public Domain
Relevant links from the show:
"Elizabeth Warren Wants to Make Your Life More Annoying and More Expensive," by Peter Suderman
"Elizabeth Warren's Plan to Break Up Big Tech Would Be Bad for America," by David Harsanyi
"Facebook Had Every Right to Reject Elizabeth Warren's Crappy Ad," by Scott Shackford
"Silicon Valley May Rue the Day it Called for Government Intervention Against Microsoft," by Nick Gillespie
"Conservatives Are Wrong to Call for Government 'Trust Busting,'" by Steven Greenhut
"The Shitpost Terrorist," by Jesse Walker
"Has Phony Betomania Already Bitten the Dust?" by Matt Welch
"35 Heroes of Freedom," by the Reason staff
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