Re:Amazon’s Antitrust Antagonist Has a Breakthrough Idea
by IBM on Saturday September 08, 2018 @10:38PM
(#17944031)
I think it's the most pressing political issue right now.
Re:Amazon’s Antitrust Antagonist Has a Breakthrough Idea
by dreamcompiler on Sunday September 09, 2018 @12:07PM
(#17946494)
Monopolies are not anti-capitalist; they are the natural result of unregulated capitalism.
Re:Amazon’s Antitrust Antagonist Has a Breakthrough Idea
by clairity on Sunday September 09, 2018 @02:04PM
(#17947009)
it's well-accepted that monopolized markets are undesireable in capitalism, so i don't think it's wrong to state it as anti-capitalist. but let's leave the semantics aside.
strictly speaking, unregulated markets don't have to devolve into monopoly, but functional markets are not particularly stable on their own, so monopoly does tend to be a common result. it's like a dipolar chaotic system where the second pole is stronger than the first--once the system flips to the second pole, it's hard to get it back.
even regulated markets can devolve into monopoly, as we all well know just by looking around. the early 20th century compromise was to allow monopolies to form but strongly regulate them. over time, we've allowed moneyed interests to weaken those regulations, with the entirely predictable result of the current imbalance of wealth distribution and social unrest.
Re:Amazon’s Antitrust Antagonist Has a Breakthrough Idea
by dreamcompiler on Sunday September 09, 2018 @02:15PM
(#17947051)
Points taken. Well-said.
"... a central riddle of the 2000s: from 1999 to 2009, the economy had added zero new jobs. Even before the real estate bubble burst, growth was historically weak. Explanations like technology and offshoring didn’t quite add up.
Longman and Lynn had a novel theory: the rise in corporate consolidation was the culprit. Small businesses drive most job creation in the U.S. A monopoly, meanwhile, has little reason to hire more workers, because it can just charge higher prices."
people who talk about automation taking jobs being the problem or universal basic income being the answer should take heed of this, the central economic issue underlying today's societal and political challenges.
monopolies are anti-capitalist.