Tim Wu’s White House Tenure Marks Historic Antimonopoly Shift
Washington, D.C. – The American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement in response to news that Tim Wu, special assistant to the president for competition and tech policy, would soon be leaving his role at the White House.
“We congratulate Tim Wu for his historic tenure in the Biden White House as a key advisor on antimonopoly policy,” said Sarah Miller, Executive Director of the American Economic Liberties Project. “For forty years, Presidential administrations of both parties tolerated and even fostered the growth of monopolies in every sector of the economy. That ended under President Biden. Economic structure determines what kind of society we live in, whether it is one controlled by a few gatekeepers and experts, or one run by workers, businesspeople, engineers, artists, and farmers. It is Biden, with Wu’s advice and counsel, who has ensured that monopolists no longer have free rein in the White House.”
“Wu came into the job with a vision informed by the history of the law, which he described in his important book on antitrust, The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age. With Wu’s help, Biden not only appointed strong antitrust enforcers, but explicitly directed all agencies of government to foster competition and set up a White House competition council to make that happen. Antitrust is no longer a technocratic domain controlled by out-of-touch experts and Wall Street, but finally belongs where it always has, with we the people,” said Miller.
“Wu helped design and implement much of this historic shift. He participated in key decision-making on everything from opening up the hearing aid market to taking on junk fees to re-regulating ocean carriers to fostering interoperability in electric vehicle charging stations to passing antitrust laws. He was also involved in new initiatives on privacy, mergers, and right-to-repair policies,” said Miller.
“We are excited for the immensely talented team of anti-monopolists in the White House to continue this vital work, and we appreciate that Wu will return to Columbia Law where he will be educating a new generation of lawyers,” added Miller.
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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power