Direct: The Rise of the Middleman Economy and the Power of Going to the Source – An Axiom Award-Winning Guide to Building Sustainable and Accountable Economic Systems

by Kathryn Judge

Axiom Award Gold Medalist for Business Theory Finance expert, law professor, and fellow overwhelmed consumer Kathryn Judge investigates the surprising ways that middlemen have taken control of the economy at the expense of the rest of us, and provides practical guidance about how to regain control, find more meaning, and contribute to a more sustainable economy. Over the past thirty years, middlemen have built intricate financial and retail empires capable of moving goods across the country and around the world—transforming the economy and our lives. Because of middlemen, we enjoy an unprecedented degree of choice and convenience. But the rise of the middleman economy comes at a steep price. In Direct , Columbia law professor Kathryn Judge shows how overgrown middlemen became the backbone of modern capitalism and the cause of many of its ailments. Middlemen today shape what people do, how they invest, and what they consume. They use their troves of data to push people to buy more, and more expensive, products. They use their massive profits and expertise to lobby lawmakers, tilting the playing field in their favor. Drawing on a decade of research, Judge shows how to fight Go to the source. The process of direct exchange—and the resulting ecosystem of makers and consumers, investors and entrepreneurs—fosters connection and community and helps promote a more just, resilient, and accountable economic system. Direct exchange reminds us that our actions always and inevitably impact others, as it rekindles an appreciation of our inherent interconnectedness. As Judge reveals in this much-needed book, direct exchange is both the cornerstone of the solution and a tool for revealing just how much is at stake in decisions about “through whom” to buy, invest and give.

Genres: Business, Economics, Nonfiction, Finance

304 pages, Hardcover

Published June 7, 2022

About the author

Kathryn Judge is the Harvey J. Goldschmid Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. She is an expert in financial markets and financial regulation. She has published articles in top academic journals and regularly presents her work to audiences in the United States and abroad. She is co-editor of the Journal of Financial Regulation and a Research Member of the European Corporate Governance Institute. She has served on the Financial Research Advisory Committee of the Office of Financial Research and the Task Force on Financial Stability co-sponsored by the Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution and the Initiative on Global Markets at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She also served as a clerk for Judge Richard Posner and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. She is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Wesleyan University. She lives with her husband, Tim, and their two daughters in New York City.

Reviews

[Marks54 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a new book about the pitfalls of living within the “Middleman” economy and what we can do as individuals to moderate some of the darker elements of too great a dependence on the super big box benefits of the large firms that have come to dominate different sectors of the economy. The author is a law professor at Columbia who is highly skilled at financial analysis. When I started the book I was concerned that a large load of specialized financial and legal analysis was headed my way. I do not mind that but it slows you down in working through the details. Someone may have pointed this out to Professor Judge but however she did it, the book is a really nice exposition of a complex problem that seems fair in its treatment but also readable and engaging in what to do about it.

So what is the problem? This is a critique of hyper-capitalism in the 21st century that combines super-massive scale and scope with extended global supply chains. Think about Wal-Mart, Amazon, and Costco. While you are at it, think about the global giants of finance such as Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and J.P. Morgan. These giants are highly successful and providing more and more goods and services to more and more people and as a result have become the most highly valued firms in the world by a large margin. What’s so bad about that? Well, nothing but along with this exceptional performance has come a number of additional problems and issues that have changed our society and imposed a large set of costs on those less fortunate, such as the millions who work for these firms, the millions who work for them globally in the supply chain, and the thousands of smaller local businesses that have gone out of business or suffered as the giants have grown and prospered.

If you follow general critiques of global capitalism or political economy, none of this is new, but Professor Judge tells the story well and updates, including details of how COIVD-19 has affected the mix - a continuing story at present. She masks her erudition well and must be a fine teacher. The message is more reasonable than is generally the case in these sorts of book. While we cannot get away from Wal-Mart or Amazon, we should be aware of the issues and look for alternatives so that we at least appreciate how the economy is being transformed.

So what to do about it? That is where the title of the book comes in. When possible, consumers should look into and make use of more direct connections with producers and shy away from the longer global indirect supply chains when there are better alternatives available. If we do this and patronize alternative to market transactions in long abstracted supply chains, we will be doing our bit to mitigate the more dehumanizing aspects of global capitalism. Early on, she discussed community support agriculture (CSA). This is a good example of her direction and her discussion is informative and even surprising. We buy from a local CSA and she helped me put it into context of the broader economy. Other lines of approach are raised as well, especially different “Direct to Consumer” options in different areas. These are all activities that people have heard of but the book helps to place them in a large context. Her general recommendations for following up and looking for more direct options are reasonable and even practical.

This is an interesting and engaging book that is well worth reading.

[David Dayen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unexpectedly personal look at the rise of intermediation in our commerce, and the value—almost the spiritual value—of direct exchange. Interesting takeaways about how the middleman economy has wide-ranging effects that go beyond price and resiliency, and how finding sources directly can be fulfilling in multiple ways.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book invites us to ask, “Through whom should we buy, invest and give?”

A deeply informed view of middlemen, the benefits they offer and suggestions for how to keep them in check so they don’t screw everyone.

Overall, I was convinced that the supply chains of middlemen should be shortened and it’s possible to consciously choose where to spend and the conditions we can create for more direct exchanges to take hold. I particularly admire Judge’s stance that there are new ways to think about and create value coming from an abundant rather than combative perspective.

Having said that, some of the examples given of brands who attempt to be transparent, live up to higher standards, show that this stance can backfire on them (e.g. Everlane). This positioning potentially attracts virtue signalling power plays that the company is unable to control and which is unfairly detrimental to the brand.

Worth reading this alongside The Status Game to explore the pros and cons of direct relationships, and the human dynamics at play that could impact a brand, which this book doesn’t address.


Notes and references that were meaningful to me:

*Part I in a nutshell*

- Buy your nuts direct from the farmer


*Part II: benefits of not going direct*

- Unprecedented degree of choice and convenience (e.g. big box retailers and real estate agents)

- Benefit of financial securitisation: divvies up risk and information burdens


*Part III: the dark side of middlemen*
- The rise of the middleman economy comes at a steep price: lobbying and special interests causing uneven competitive playing field, unnecessary costs, rampant fraud, man on the street getting screwed

- Middlemen today influence behaviour, investment and consumption. Huge amounts of data are used to push people to buy more.

- Myth of supply chain accountability: e.g. inaccurate company ratings during the 2007 days of “shadow banking” subprime crisis. Short terms gains at the expense of simplicity, the strength of financial markets, economic activity and household wealth.

- The supposed efficiencies when times were good created excessive rigidities that hurt those involved and others when housing markets declined. Example of 2020 Covid-19 toilet paper panic buying: common vulnerability and supply chain challenges. Supply side inflation: due to shipping costs, delays in delivery, sudden jump in demand, lumber shortage, semiconductor shortage. Lack of mechanisms for holding executives accountable: easy to lie, no incentives to tell the truth, be ethical.

- The ignorance long supply chains can foster includes consumers: we know fast fashion often causes environmental waste and pain and suffering to sweatshop workers. But this doesn’t stop us buying. Middlemen shield buyers from the impact of their buying decisions which are abstract and probabilistic.

- Challenge of trying to promote more sustainable practices and better working conditions through long and complicated supply chains. Companies can game the system and middlemen profit from subterfuge.

—e.g. Certification schemes to assure fair trade. Consumer research recently showed Greek consumers were willing to pay 70% more for strawberries when assured that workers were treated and paid fairly. Coffee producers differentiate through organic and third party fair trade certification. However the significant costs of getting the certification wouldn’t give them a guarantee they could actually sell at a higher price. And one study found labourers were actually paid less. Mixed results.

— e.g. green bonds: Investors pay significant fees but not clear on impact. Does issuing a green bond impact result in environmental benefits? Proceeds usually comply (like restrictions for use and ongoing reporting). But looking at carbon footprint, they often offset the benefits through other actions. 2020 report from US Govt accountability office: no clear consistent ESG rules on what companies must disclose.

—more joy in connecting to farmers, makers and others

*Part IV: the way forward*

- Direct and the path forward: Direct exchange results in an ecosystem of makers and consumers, investors and entrepreneurs. Gift dynamics create emotional connections rather than commodity connections: can coexist. Can foster a society that recognises of our interdependence and our collective wellbeing rather than assumptions of scarcity. And individual advantage.

- E.g. direct tourism at Navarro Vineyards in California who hire workers all year round, go direct to customer at reasonable prices. Note to self to try this wine!

- E.g.2 Hanahana beauty shea based body butters for women of colour, sells exclusively on its website. Founded by woman of Ghanaian descent: Abena Boamah-Acheampong. Pays suppliers twice what they originally asked. Posting videos on women who make the shea.

- To transcend the limitations inherent in the still dominant economics-based mode of looking at the world we need a different theory of value of exchange: one that illuminates a different set of dynamics. See Lewis Hyde’s work on gift economies: in other places and times gifts have been a dominant mode of exchange. Gift economies can exist with market economies (albeit uncomfortably).

- Markets and market based interactions can promote human flourishing. Reference: The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind
Book by Raghuram Rajan. We’re in a system that seeks to put a price on everything.

_“The one book I recommend without fail to aspiring writers and painters and musicians”: The Gift by Lewis Hyde_
- Margaret Atwood (2018)

- How gifts can cultivate community and connection even when intertwined with commerce e.g. The CSA at Genesis Farm, the share table. If I’m allowed more eggplants that my family can eat, I place the extra on the share table. Everything on the table is free for the taking. Annual carrot harvest participation, or auctions, or cook food at events. It’s also in person and personal: intimacy and sense you know the merchant.

- e.g. GoFundMe: conscious cultivation of connection and community: story of the person is at the centre, allows giver and receiver communication on and off the platform. Feels meaningful.

- Rework hierarchies, create meaningful and self-directed professional opportunities, reduce loneliness, sense of abundance from using exchange to connect with fellow humans

- Connections local and global: Direct exchange connects us, fostering community and helps promote a more just, resilient, and accountable economic system. It reveals “through whom” to buy, invest and give.

- Almost direct, quasi-direct and the limits of direct: e.g. P2P lending (Prosper: person to person marketplace for consumer loans. Harnessing wisdom of crowds to make loans available to more people at better price. But ended up having to essentially be regulated.)

- Example of CX funded D2C brands like Warby Parker, Dollar shave club, Casper, Rothy’s, glossié, also all bird shoes, away luggage, Harry’s razors, third love bras. Book: Billion Dollar Brand Club: How Dollar Shave Club, Warby Parker, and Other Disruptors Are Remaking What We Buy by Lawrence Ingrassia. They exploited weakness brought about by middlemen stifling innovation

- Pros and cons e.g.: Everlane
-- Pro: Everlane’s “radical transparency”: They break down what goes into the price of a product, where cashmere comes from, who they buy from, pictures of factory. Toured factory, spoke to workers. Cutting out middle man gives complete control over virtual and physical environment in which their customers shop, saves them money. Customer service queries go straight to an employee. Profits from Black Friday go to people employed in factories. Eliminating virgin plastics from supply chain. $50M in revenue within 5 years of founding, glowing reviews.
-- Con: 42 of 57 remote customer service reps fired after asking to unionise in depths of the pandemic. Anti-black disrespectful behaviour accusation. Incongruence between what they say and reality. Internal report showing it intentionally dragged its feet in catering to plus sizes (not aspirational to be fat). A lot is actually disguised: e.g. do workers enjoy sick leave?

- Cons E.g. Away: surveillance; Third Love Bras: bullying male boss; Dollar Shave Club: actually repackaged razors available on Amazon, now sells through traditional middlemen.

- “Tech giants are now a new middleman.”

- DTC is quasi direct because it relies on VC funding: Business and funding models limit the depth of relationships with customers. Unlike shareholders, VC’s can tell directors or leaders what to do: pressure them to grow very quickly, at all costs. When growth is rushed it can cause a company to compromise on other values.

- Platforms like eBay, Etsy and Kickstarter serve many of the economic functions long served by economic middlemen e.g. aggregated reviews and safe flow of money from one person to another.

- Example: Amazon marketplace: platforms grown faster than retail business, but a virtuous circle enabled it to amass so much power so quickly, leverage influence on sellers (know what fees to impose).

- The benefits that direct exchange and the shifts in that direction can offer are not equally helpful across all types of settings. Kickstarter enables multidimensional human beings seeking a multidimensional exchange to come to the table together, vs P2P which had nice stories but depersonalised, and the exchange is financial at its core, need to weed out fraud and assessing likelihood to repay.

- 5 principles for policy makers, companies and us:

1. Intermediation matters
2. The shorter the intermediation chain the better
3. Direct is best most of the time
4. Follow the fees to understand who to trust
5. Bridges can help

[Chris Boutté · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good and much-needed book. I randomly came across Kathryn Judge’s book on Twitter and was instantly curious. As someone who does a few different entrepreneurial ventures and sells online, I’ve been curious about the “middleman economy”. While more people are getting connected via different platforms like eBay, Etsy and others, there are high fees, and sometimes they’re out of control. In Judge’s book, she goes much further than simply discussing these online platforms.

Judge brought to my attention the health and safety issues that come along with the middleman economy. I didn���t think much about it, but rarely do we know where our food even comes from. I think about how we often don’t know if our clothes and products are ethically sourced, but the author comes out the gate with a terrifying story about someone having an allergic reaction because food supplied by a middleman wasn’t labeled properly.

This book covers so much, and I rarely hear anyone discussing this, so I’m really glad Kathryn Judge is bringing some attention to these issues and challenges. Best of all, she has a ton of ideas for solutions. I really hope a ton of people read this book just so we can all start thinking a bit more about how the middleman economy is affecting all of us.

[Una · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book upon reading Matt Stoller's newsletter on the politics of monopoly power, and found the premise interesting. In the end, it failed to deliver any groundbreaking insights, offer to any reasonable policy-level solutions.

If you're really, really not following the economic news but are generally interested in the topic, this might be a good read, as the book is using the 2007 US mortgage housing crises for a lot of examples. This topic has been chewed up and spit up, and this book does not add anything new to the topic, so I found these parts quite tedious.

The author also tends to gravitate to a very simplistic "direct good, middleman bad" view, while at the same time admitting that the direct economy has a price tag that not everybody can afford. At the height of this absurdity, SPACs are mentioned as a "better alternative that's on the horizon" with "significant cost savings". Considering how badly SPACs are performing, and the risks involved in this type of investment, this just comes of as bad journalism and not a comment you would expect from an expert in financial markets and financial regulation. Her general statement that "people can do their own research" when it comes to financial investments ignores the huge information asymmetry on the market, and incentives of sponsors in case of SPACs (we are looking at you, Chamath Palihapitiya).

On a more positive note, this read can make you more mindful about your purchases so ***

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a tough slog. I listened to it in audiobook format, which may have made me more likely to finish it since I kept trudging through it in 20-minute chunks on my commute.

Judge's point is that we live in an economy dominated by middlemen--from Amazon and Wal-Mart to real-estate agents and stockbrokers. These middlemen take way too much in fees because there is so little competition, and they keep a stranglehold on government in order to pass and maintain laws that favor them.

All of that makes good sense and is why I checked out the book. Judge makes this point over and over and over again, and she has some suggestions for fixing the problem (five principles), but these amount to buying direct as much as possible (like supporting a CSA) and writing your Congressperson to advocate for policy change, which just seem depressingly ineffective.

I appreciate the thesis though!

[S · Rating 2 out of 5]

How should I put it - It’s like there is a lecturer in front of me introducing the landscape of middleman economy transformation. By the end of a chapter emphasising her mai point without clear reasoning except narratives to support it. Not surprised this is how most of lecturers or even professors are like in real life.

Humm, an interesting thing raised by the book - though mid discussion of globalisation impact on local economy eg the States, the fundamental issue is the spread of intermediations has rebuilt the way of global economy work, not China, not other countries. In other words not agent but the way they interact. In terms of the competition result between the other nations’ exports and the local manufacturers’ products if any, that is a different issue clearly.

[Liviazi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring, personal and current. As someone who has been working in this problem as different types of middlemen in consumer goods seeing the “long supply chain problem”being explained so simply well is to say the least refreshing. I love the how she brought the human side of it as well! Looking forward to seeing how Kathryn will develop her work as I am missing more up to date high tech solutions and new business models tackling this issue via blockchain and other platform based models. Happily a lot of the new developments have been proven in the past 5 years!

[Kathleen Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Judge takes a complex topic and makes it understandable and intimate. She demonstrates how our daily choices have individual and collective consequences, both good, and bad. Judge lays a framework not only for acknowledging and addressing the role of the middleman, but one that could apply to multiple challenges our our time.

[Vincent Van Wylick · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book highlights many important problems to solve about intermediation in value chains, but fails to really suggest systematic resolutions to them. I admire direct business models, but for global reach they will always rely on part to “facilitators” or “extensions” to make that happen. Question is do they all need global reach, which is probably not the case.

[Nic Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight on the ways we can reconnect with the source of products that we consumer, wear, and purchase. The five principles to use when decided from whom to purchase your goods and services are incredibly valuable. The entire book was informative, but the principles alone makes this book worth the read in my opinion.

[Steve Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have done a decent amount of reading about monopolists and their impact on the current state of the world, but never really about middlemen. Similar impact!

The stat that most people would give up sex for a year before Amazon was...memorable.

[ajay Kumar · Rating 2 out of 5]

while some the problem related with the middle man economy may be real, but i found the alternatives to be pretty banal...
buy vegetables and fruits directly from farmers etc...seriously this is the solution :)

[Samrat · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engrossing review of the problems excessive intermediation can cause, but the solutions proffered all felt insubstantial.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great and informative book written for the average consumer that wants to be informed about where the products they buy come from and how they get there.

[Bossman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas but more specific examples would help for solutions.

[Daniel Pearse · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's really depressing that even fair trade chocolate is still not good for workers. Really good look at how much waste their is in the economy.

[Alexandra Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gripping book simultaneously manages to take both a 10,000 foot view of our economy and bring it to the level of the individual, overwhelmed consumer (that's me!). From the opening pages, where Judge relates the details of her infant daughter's heart condition - and the surprising "middleman" who helped her connect with other parents - to the ending, which contains five principles to help consumers, business leaders, and entrepreneurs contribute to a more sustainable economic system, this book is a must-read!

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastic. The way the global economy works -- truly works -- is shrouded in mystery. I've studied macroeconomics and am aware of various abstract models and theories that try to explain particular kinds of interactions and effects that we see. But as far as I know, this book is the first explain systematically how the roles played by intermediaries can explain much of the changes we've seen in recent decades. Even better, the prose flows nicely and is easy to read, which is so rare in a book by an academic of Kathryn Judge's caliber!

[Taylor Ball · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting analysis of middlemen. While I enjoyed the book, there was not a lot that felt new especially with the examples Center it around Amazon and Walmart - two firms that often come up in my sustainability classes and most often in a critical light

8 hours 43 mins on Audible

[Frank Lindt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although well-structured, this book does not take a deep dive into the role of middlemen in our economies and is therefore quite basic.