The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our ...

Books

Tim Wu explores how today's dominant platforms manipulate attention, extract wealth, and deepen inequality-urging us to recognize their influence and reclaim control to create a balanced economy that works for all. Our world is dominated by a handful of tech platforms. They provide great conveniences and entertainment, but also stand as some of the most effective instruments of wealth extraction ever invented, seizing immense amounts of money, data, and attention from all of us. An economy driven by digital platforms and AI influence offers the potential to enrich us, and also threatens to marginalize entire industries, widen the wealth gap, and foster a two-class nation. As technology evolves and our markets adapt, can society cultivate a better life for everyone? Is it possible to balance economic growth and egalitarianism, or are we too far gone? Tim Wu-the preeminent scholar and former White House official who coined the phrase "net neutrality"-explores the rise of platform power and details the risks ...