My concern (sorry to troll!?) is that I feel like some people don't like Google (or FB or amazon or other big tech) because of privacy concerns, some because of social impact (fake news, conspiracies, like antivaxx etc) concerns, some because of worries about media consolidation and power, some because its just cool to be contrarian.
Very few of those people will actually be happier with what is left if we "hit Google with hammers till it falls apart", which seems to be all anyone can think to do.
Coming back to your points, can I ask: what if (hypothetically) we implimented your points and prices went up and jobs were lost? Is that a price worth paying or is this all a means to an end (cheaper stuff and more jobs)?
I don't have a problem with either answer, but the Means To An End approach is how we got here so...
Apologies. I omitted one of the most potent reforms floated by Sen Mark Warner (IIRC) and others: sharply curtailing freemium and ad supported biz models. Facepalm slap. Were I to compile reform proposals, I'd avoid such silly errors.
> jobs were lost
Which jobs are we talking about? Do you anticipant greater job loses than precipitated by Amazon thus far, or by WalMart before them? In your taxonomy, are gig workers included? In which case they are employees, not contractors. So should we start treating them as employees?
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I'm often reminded by Winston Churchill's wisdom advocating the rebuilding of their damaged Parliament exactly as before:
We shape the buildings that then shape us.
Markets, economies, society, beliefs are human things, made by humans, to benefit humans.
We can build the society we want, if only we found the courage.
Though I loathe concern trolling, on this aspect, I am very guilty.
None of the proposed measures I've read even acknowledge my concerns, much less offer remedies.
I'll share mine if you'll share yours.
I want to foster fairness and competition. The most modest, minimal measures are:
- prohibit self dealing, conflicts of interest
- impose rule of law over de facto marketplaces
- ban competing with one's own clients and partners
That's the very least we can do to oxygenate our economies. I also support far more assertive measures,
- repeated radical cashectomies
- fixed royalty schedule for all patents (taxes by another name)
- restore Eisenhower era corporate tax rates, with generous breaks for R&D and employee profit sharing
-limit comparable compensation (of all kinda) between CEO and janitors to 40:1.
- reassert shareholder rights by banning minority control (eg voting super shares for founders)
That's just my casual list, from the hip. I should probably draft a more comprehensive compilation of all the remedies I've heard proposed.