19th October 2026
Are we living through a new Gilded Age, where a small number of enormous corporations have accumulated too much economic and political power? In this video, I argue that monopoly and oligopoly are becoming serious threats not only to competitive markets, but also to democracy.
Monopoly power is about much more than prices. Dominant corporations can control market access, acquire potential competitors, exploit intellectual property rights, and use financial resources to protect their position. The result can be fewer choices for consumers and greater barriers for smaller businesses.
Economic power can also become political power. Large corporations have extensive lobbying operations and access to politicians and officials that ordinary citizens and smaller businesses cannot match. I examine examples ranging from technology and AI to pharmaceuticals and companies involved in Britain’s public infrastructure.
We have faced this problem before. At the beginning of the 20th century, President Teddy Roosevelt of the USA challenged the power of America’s so-called robber barons. His argument was straightforward: corporations exist because governments provide the laws and institutions that make them possible, and democratic governments therefore have both the right and responsibility to regulate them.
I consider what Britain can learn from Roosevelt today. Decades of mergers, acquisitions, privatisation, and shifting attitudes towards competition have increased corporate concentration, while natural monopolies such as water and energy raise fundamental questions about whether essential services should be run primarily for private profit.
I argue that we need stronger merger scrutiny, a willingness to break up excessively dominant corporations, greater transparency around lobbying, and public control of natural monopolies where regulation cannot protect the public interest.
Economic power should not override democratic authority. Markets should serve society, and government must have the courage to ensure that they do.
00:00 Are We Living in a New Age of Monopoly?
01:01 Monopoly, Oligopoly and Economic Rent
02:02 How Corporate Concentration Restricts Competition
03:03 When Economic Power Becomes Political Power
04:04 Big Tech, AI and Corporate Influence
05:05 What the Gilded Age Can Teach Us
06:06 Theodore Roosevelt Takes on Corporate Power
07:07 Corporations Exist Because Governments Create Them
08:08 Why Corporate Transparency Matters
09:09 How Roosevelt Challenged the Robber Barons
10:10 What Happened to Britain’s Competition Policy?
11:11 Privatisation and Natural Monopolies
12:12 How Government Could Challenge Corporate Power
13:02 Why Democracy Must Be More Powerful Than Corporations