A Second Gilded Age: The Consolidation of Wealth and Corporate Power

Amid growing protest by Americans of all political persuasions in response to increasing economic inequality and a disappearing middle class, the current administration resembles a gathering of corporate tycoons, serving to highlight the intimate connection between economic power and political power. Despite a federal antitrust regime designed to prevent centralized corporate power, increasingly we see the consolidation of industry (retail, airlines, hospitals, etc.) due to what many experts believe is decades of under-enforced antitrust law. What does the concentration of corporate power and wealth portend for the health of our democratic society and individual liberties? Can antitrust laws be used to diffuse the concentration of wealth, improve the strength of the middle and working classes, and restore the democratic promise of America, particularly under a Trump Administration?