David Leonhardt: Too big

Antitrust issues need more attention. Also: In praise of Michael Bloomberg. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, March 6, 2019 [NYTimes.com/David-Leonhardt »]( [Op-Ed Columnist] Op-Ed Columnist Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota senator and presidential candidate, was talking to me yesterday about her efforts to get the media to pay more attention to antitrust issues. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to do interviews on TV,” she said, laughing. “Last night, I got on ‘Hardball,’ finally,” she continued. It was a segment timed to a Senate hearing held this week on antitrust issues. Even so, she said, “They would not ask it just as an antitrust question even though the hearing was today. They asked it as pharma” — that is, about high drug prices. Antitrust, Klobuchar said, “just feels weird” to much of the media. It feels technical and wonky. But here’s the thing: Antitrust issues — mergers, corporate concentration and the like — have huge effects on Americans’ lives. And those effects are neither technical nor wonky. Companies have grown so large and powerful that they have outsize power over workers, consumers and politics. Corporate consolidation is indeed driving drug prices higher. It’s creating data-privacy issues. It’s helping to hold down workers’ wages (as [thisÂ]( administration report]( explained). In one area after another, Klobuchar said, “People are starting to figure out that they don’t have a lot of control.” The Senate hearing on antitrust yesterday was jointly led by her and Mike Lee, the Utah Republican. It included discussion of bills that would raise the bar for merger approval and crack down on anticompetitive behavior among drug companies, among other steps. The United States has a long and bipartisan — but sporadic — tradition of taking antitrust issues seriously. That tradition includes Teddy Roosevelt, Louis Brandeis and John Sherman (he of the 1890 antitrust act that bears his name). “Antitrust is not and should not be viewed as a Democratic issue or progressive issue,” Robert Reich, the Democratic former secretary of labor, said at a Center for American Progress forum yesterday, also timed to the Senate hearing. “We cannot take the free market for granted.” There are some very early signs that the problem of corporate bigness is starting to get more attention, which would be a very good thing. For more, check out [a short video from Reich]( [a chart]( which ran with a recent column of mine; [a 2016 column]( by Paul Krugman; or [a Times profile]( of the antitrust scholar Lina Khan. In praise of Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg wanted to run for president in 2016, as an independent. But he decided that doing so brought an unacceptable risk of helping to elect Donald Trump. Bloomberg wanted to run again in 2020, as a Democrat. But he decided that the party’s voters weren’t looking for a 77-year-old billionaire this time around. So he passed on both races. In 2020, he will instead focus on helping Democrats win and advocating for solutions to climate change. And his foundation will continue to promote public health, gun safety, clean energy, [economic mobility]( and other issues. It’s a vastly better way to spend some of his billions than to run an ego-driven vanity campaign. It’s a case study of putting country before self. As New York’s mayor, Bloomberg tried to bring a reality-based, data-driven approach to running the city. The result [was not perfect](. No politician is. But his 12-year mayoralty was [highly successful and highly progressive](. He brought the same reality-based, data-driven — and honorable — approach to his decisions not to run for president. Elsewhere: [Jon Favreau]( of “Pod Save America” says that the climate part of Bloomberg’s announcement matters more than the campaign part. “People will focus on his decision not to run, but Bloomberg’s commitment to retire every coal-fired plant over the next decade and move us towards 100% clean energy is laudable and urgently necessary,” Favereau tweeted. And Vox’s [Kelsey Piper]( writes: “Bloomberg’s commitment to decarbonization — and his clearheadedness about how he can best use his resources to achieve his policy goals, instead of burning them on a doomed but satisfying campaign — is genuinely to be commended.” ADVERTISEMENT If you enjoy this newsletter, forward it to friends! They can [sign up for themselves here]( — and they don’t need to be a Times subscriber. The newsletter is published every weekday, with help from my colleague Ian Prasad Philbrick. David’s Morning NYT Read [How Much Does Nancy Pelosi Have to Worry About a Left-Center Split?]( By THOMAS B. EDSALL She owes her majority to the moderates who won Republican seats, but she is in no position to ignore the energy coming from her left. The Full Opinion Report [The Trump Musical: ‘Anything Goes’]( By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Leaders around the world have learned that they can do as they wish without the U.S. calling them out. [Does John Hickenlooper Have a Secret Weapon?]( By FRANK BRUNI Maybe nice guys finish Trump. [Fix America’s National Emergencies Law. And Not Just Because of Trump.]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD The 1976 statute had flaws before President Trump took office. But his recent emergency declaration gives Congress an incentive to fix it. [Luke Perry Had a Stroke and Died. I Had One and Lived.]( By KARA SWISHER I had both the privilege of more days and the awareness that those days would be limited. [Stop Saying ‘Exponential.’ Sincerely, a Math Nerd.]( By MANIL SURI Sure, “exponential growth” sounds impressive. But it usually isn’t. [A Trump 5G Plan That Progressives Should Embrace]( By KEVIN WERBACH The Trump campaign floated a proposal for a wholesale 5G network. It’s politically expedient but still a great idea. [When Executive Privilege and Congressional Oversight Collide, Who Wins?]( By KATE SHAW There is no simple answer — which is why investigators should proceed thoughtfully. [Oh, Trudeau.]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Charm will not extricate Canada’s Justin Trudeau from a spreading political mess. Only honest answers will. [Luke Perry Was the First Bad Boy I Loved]( By MARIS KREIZMAN Mourning the man who gave us Dylan McKay on “Beverly Hills, 90210.” [Germany’s New Political Divide]( By ALEXANDER GÖRLACH How the Greens and the Liberals became the country’s most important parties. [Why Are Republicans Embracing Economic State Planning?]( By VERONIQUE DE RUGY The U.S. should not copy China’s command-and-control playbook. Markets are still best at driving economic growth. [How Australia Became the Defamation Capital of the World]( By LOUISA LIM A court ruling in favor of a Chinese businessman against The Sydney Morning Herald illustrates the sorry state of the country’s defamation laws. [Treat Medicines Like Netflix Treats Shows]( By TINA ROSENBERG Australia seems to have found a way to entice Big Pharma into making essential new medicines affordable. Why can’t the United States? [Is Single-Payer Health Care a Pipe Dream?]( Readers react to David Brooks’s argument that the transition to “Medicare for all” would be too disruptive for Americans. ADVERTISEMENT FEEDBACK and HELP If you have thoughts about this newsletter, email me at [leonhardt@nytimes.com](mailto:leonhardt@nytimes.com?subject=David%20Leonhardt%20Newsletter%20Feedback). If you have questions about your Times account, delivery problems or other non-journalistic issues, you can visit our [Help Page]( or [contact The Times](. 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