Antitrust and Big Tech Breakups: Piercing the Popular Myths by Cautious Inquiry

“Break ‘em up with antitrust” is a popular and surging political drumbeat. This essay argues for a closer look at history and experience. They show that breakups of integrated single firm monopolies (which were not the product of mergers) have been rare and difficult. The essay takes a special look at the breakup of Ma Bell — a restructuring that needed to happen — recalling that even this rare success took a decade after the trial to implement.

By Eleanor M. Fox & Donald I. Baker¹

I. INTRODUCTION

“Antitrust” had been a low-profile technical discipline for decades. But then came the rise of Big Tech/Big Data platforms, an explosion of public fear that the platforms are taking over our lives and minds, political campaigns highlighting their alleged predations, and the emergence of a popular narrative that goes like this:

The Big Tech firms are pervasive, abusive and dangerous; enemies of the people. They subvert democracy and the economy. They misuse our data, they gobble up rising stars, they sabotage firms that compete on their platforms, they wall-in their gardens and dig moats around their castles. They spread disinformation and nurture divisiveness. They are too big and powerful. Antitrust is the tried and trusted tool. Break ‘em up.²

We write this essay to push back on the myth-telling and to cast a clear eye on what is the problem and what are the questions that should inform any restructuring s