Capitalism has to become more humane': a Stanford economist on big tech, power hoarding and democracy

"“The billionaires of today are unusually aggressive in their hoarding of cultural and technological influence,” according to Mordecai Kurz, a Stanford economist whose research connects monopoly power with political and economic inequality."

"Kurz argues the US is living through an extreme version of a pattern that has repeated itself since industrialization: technological power concentrating in the hands of a few, which is eroding democracy. According to Kurz, technological moguls have long seen themselves as superior beings whose natural role is to shape society so they have no problem disrupting the institution of democracy."

"“Voters turn towards fascist leaders when democracy no longer serves workers,” Kurz says. New Deal reforms during the Great Depression limited monopoly power and provided benefits to the vulnerable. According to Private Power and Democracy's Decline, these reforms precipitated a half-century of sustained innovations, rapid economic growth and stable income distribution."

"Reagan-era reversals of those reforms led to what Kurz calls the second Gilded Age, when technological firms could accumulate monopoly power and wealth while most Americans, especially blue-collar workers without college degrees, saw their wages stagnate as the cost of living rose."

Technological power has concentrated in the hands of a few, weakening democratic institutions. Wealthy technology leaders often view themselves as naturally suited to shape society and disrupt democratic processes. During the first Gilded Age, industrialists used distorted social Darwinism to claim their success proved they were selected to influence society. Today, similar claims appear in modern technology leadership, including ideas of mystical or transcendent potential alongside warnings about mass unemployment. When democracy no longer serves workers, voters may shift toward fascist leaders. New Deal reforms limited monopoly power and supported vulnerable people, enabling sustained innovation, growth, and stable income distribution. Reversals during the Reagan era helped create a second Gilded Age with monopoly accumulation and wage stagnation.

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