The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream

Written by Thom Hartmann

Narrated by Sean Pratt

“This is the most important, dynamic book on the cancers of monopoly by giant corporations written in our generation.”—from the foreword by Ralph Nader

American monopolies dominate, control, and consume most of the energy of our entire economic system; they function the same as cancer does in a body, and, like cancer, they weaken our systems while threatening to crash the entire body economic. American monopolies have also seized massive political power and use it to maintain their obscene profits and CEO salaries while crushing small competitors.

But Thom Hartmann, America's #1 progressive radio host, shows we've broken the control of behemoths like these before, and we can do it again.

Hartmann takes us from the birth of America as a revolt against monopoly (remember the Boston Tea Party?), to the largely successful efforts of both Presidents Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and other like-minded leaders to restrain corporations' monopolistic urges, to the massive changes in the rules of business starting during the “Reagan Revolution” that have brought us to the cancer stage of capitalism.

He shows the damage monopolies have done to so many industries: agriculture, healthcare, the media, and more. Individuals have taken a hit as well: the average American family pays a $5,000 a year “monopoly tax” in the form of higher prices for everything from pharmaceuticals to airfare to household goods and food. But Hartmann also describes commonsense, historically rooted measures we can take—such as revitalizing antitrust regulation, taxing great wealth, and getting money out of politics—to pry control of our country from the tentacles of the monopolists.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Release date: Aug 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781523087761

Thom Hartmann

Thom Hartmann is the host of the nationally and internationally syndicated talkshow The Thom Hartmann Program and the TV show The Big Picture on the Free Speech TV network. He is the award-winning New York Times bestselling author of 24 books, including Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perception, ADHD and the Edison Gene, and The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, which inspired Leonardo DiCaprio’s film The 11th Hour. A former psychotherapist and founder of the Hunter School, a residential and day school for children with ADHD, he lives in Washington, D.C.

Reviews for The Hidden History of Monopolies

[OmarEl-Mohri · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The content is too politically motivated by a democrats mind, some points are relevant, but not sure replacing monopoly by a government monopoly is what we need?

[Dillon Evans · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The author is super liberal and wants to blame Milton Friedman and the GOP for everything.

[john teakell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best books I’ve ever listened to. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to learn about American economic problems and solutions.

[Benjamin Birch · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow! What an enlightening book. This book explains so well many of the issues found in the world today (not just America). This book she be studied by all. Don't just take my word for it find out for yourself and read it today (or listen to it read as I did). Thank you to everyone that worked on this masterpiece.

[Tate Brown · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book was released in 2020. And early on in the book (allow me to paraphrase) author says "right wing media like Fox is found in every nook and cranny across America, and progressive media is marginalized". You can expect about every idea put forth by the author, that's not a direct quote from a founding father or president, to be equally as accurate (or inaccurate rather).
Every quote included in the book would lead a person to believe he was promoting a conservative political viewpoint, or at the very least a nonpartisan position. And then he'll give the most incoherent left-wing misunderstanding of what was said