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Capitalism’s Addiction Problem
Article

Capitalism’s Addiction Problem

The biggest, best-known companies in the digital economy are getting their users hooked on their products — and undermining the pillars of America’s market economy.

The Atlantic, 2020


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9

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Many people are beginning to feel that their reliance on digital devices and platforms for communication, shopping and entertainment verges on addiction. And that could weaken the very foundations of capitalism, policy expert Maya MacGuineas points out in this elucidating article. She explores how individuals’ online compulsions subvert their reasoning, leaving them vulnerable to manipulation. MacGuineas’s text should serve as a wake-up call for policy makers, tech industry leaders and smartphone addicts everywhere. 

Take-Aways

  • People’s reliance on digital technologies threatens capitalism.
  • When every consumer is an addict, “the free market ceases to be free.”
  • People are losing trust in the big tech companies. 

About the Author

Maya MacGuineas is president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a bipartisan think tank.