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Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by fuzzfactor on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @10:20PM (#41306187)
From a different article:

>"A sweeping prohibition of noncompete agreements by the FTC was an unlawful extension of power that would have put American workers, businesses, and our economy at a competitive disadvantage," U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Suzanne Clark said in a statement.

If you ever wondered what kind of moron would get this completely backwards and think that non-compete agreements give Americans a competitive advantage, now you know.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by jeremyjh on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @10:24PM (#41306205)
There is virtually no chance that she thinks that. What she thinks is that she is funded by businesses that like to suppress wages, and non-competes are one tool to do that with. The quote is called "public relations", which is bizspeak for lying.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by rich_sasha on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @03:01AM (#41307551)
This reminds me how one of the most insane things in the world, it seems to me, are democratically elected judges and prosecutors. While handing down judgments and deciding whether to prosecute a marginal case, they have to ask themselves: what will win me reelection in n years.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by umanwizard on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @08:31AM (#41309626)
Federal judges in the U.S. (like this one) are not elected. They’re appointed for life by the president.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by webninja on Saturday August 24, 2024 @04:54PM (#41341419)
Which presidential administration appointed this corrupt judge?
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by know-how on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @07:08AM (#41309047)
This makes no sense. You mean the evil businesses owners, dressed in all black, sneak into her backdoor in the middle of the night carrying burlap sacks embroidered with the money emblem on them? You can't presume to know what anyone thinks.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by cyanydeez on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @07:16AM (#41309110)
I can kick you in the balls, and presume to know what you think.

I think you are really confused about theory and reality.

But if I give you a good faith excuse, often time we prescibe evil motives to more mundane human heuristics like "All my friends tell me great things about small business owners and as such, we should try to protect their ability to hire people".

See, some of us know how to properly understand the banality of evil.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by umanwizard on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @08:32AM (#41309637)
Federal judges aren’t really “funded” by anyone. They aren’t politicians and don’t run for election. Sure it’s possible some are corrupt and being bribed but it’s a stretch to automatically assume that’s the case because one makes a ruling you disagree with.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by r00fus on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @11:30AM (#41311254)
Surely you don't believe that? After Clarence Thomas and his lifelong friendship with Harlan Crow - it must be a whole lot cheaper and easier to buy off less important federal judges.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by Tostino on Saturday August 24, 2024 @12:35PM (#41339404)
For real, all it too was a Provost.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by johnnyanmac on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @09:06AM (#41309904)
once is happenstance, twice is coincidence...
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by gahikr on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @04:13PM (#41313790)
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by umanwizard on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @05:51PM (#41314536)
Okay? I'm not surprised that a conservative judge is part of a conservative ideological legal organization. That doesn't mean the same thing as saying they're a politician who is funded by someone.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by sobkas on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @09:06PM (#41315716)
> Okay? I'm not surprised that a conservative judge is part of a conservative ideological legal organization. That doesn't mean the same thing as saying they're a politician who is funded by someone.

Doesn't it make it looks like he is a ideologue supported by ideological organisation that happens to be a judge and uses this occupation to further his ideology instead of basing judgements on law?

And that organisation conspire to promote judges that are ideologues first?

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by jeremyjh on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @06:14PM (#41314723)
"She" refers to the person who furnished the quote in the comment I replied to. She is not a judge, she is a lobbyist.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by umanwizard on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @06:39PM (#41314888)
Ah, okay, I guess I was confused.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by GolfPopper on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @10:42PM (#41306274)
It seems to make perfect sense to me. Prohibiting non-compete agreements makes American works, businesses, and the economy as a whole more competitive... which is a disadvantage for established players, such as those who presumably own Suzanne Clark.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by jjmarr on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @10:50PM (#41306318)
The less labour rights a country has, the more competitive a country's businesses are. If you can keep your workers in quasi-indentured servitude, you're going to be more profitable than a business that can't.

It's a prisoner's dilemma because even though the economy would be better if non-competes were banned, any individual business makes more money by forcing employees to sign one.

Workers' rights need to be an essential part of any trade agreement specifically to prevent a scenario where the United States can't legislate workers' rights because it'll put American companies at a disadvantage globally.

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF10046/24

This is already being done with USMCA (NAFTA replacement) enshrining collective bargaining rights in the auto industry, so companies won't outsource to avoid dealing with a union.

Maybe banning non-competes is something the USA should prioritize in future trade agreements. That's something that would address the problem she's pointing out and benefit the economy.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by greiskul on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @11:29PM (#41306511)
> The less labour rights a country has, the more competitive a country's businesses are. If you can keep your workers in quasi-indentured servitude, you're going to be more profitable than a business that can't.

Counter point, you are conflating each individual business profits and motives for the profitability of the economy and country. But each business doesn't exist in an a vacuum, but inhabits the same environment for getting workers. By making it easier to start new companies, and to compete, by banning non competes, the surviving business might actually be more profitable than the ones before.

Example: California doesn't have non compete, and it rules the tech world, with a lot of the more profitable tech companies there. While each individual company might benefit if it was suddenly allowed to do non competes, they benefit way more for being located in such a center for innovation.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by Evidlo on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @11:34PM (#41306546)
> Counter point, you are conflating each individual business profits and motives for the profitability of the economy and country.

That was mentioned in the second paragraph.

> It's a prisoner's dilemma because even though the economy would be better if non-competes were banned, any individual business makes more money by forcing employees to sign one.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by johnnyanmac on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @09:39AM (#41310175)
It makes "more money" in the sense that other businesses make less money. But it's not exactly a zero sum game in most industries.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by jjmarr on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @11:52PM (#41316651)
It's entirely possible for something to be a positive-sum game, and still have people individually acting in their own self-interest reducing the size of the economy.

Global warming is the same thing. If everyone pollutes, we all die and the world ends. Individually however, if I'm in a world where everyone is burning coal, I don't see any gain to setting up my own wind turbine. Meanwhile everyone who kept burning coal has a slightly better existence until we all die a horrible death. The flipside is also true, if I'm the only one burning coal in a world of wind turbines, I won't have a significant effect on the climate and I get cheaper energy.

The economic solution to this is regulating greenhouse gas emissions so nobody can gain an advantage from burning coal. We all live and businesses make more money (because Earth will still exist to make money on).

It's also possible to do this with non-competes. If a world without them is economically better, we need to put our efforts into banning them globally. It doesn't make sense to only ban them in the US or Canada, because companies can just outsource to where it's acceptable.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by consteval on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @09:35AM (#41310142)
> you are conflating each individual business profits and motives for the profitability of the economy and country

I think everyone does really. In fact, I'd say this is the "big idea" behind conservative fiscal policy as a whole. This assumption is the seed of it all.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by kiba on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @10:55PM (#41306355)
Non-compete doesn't actually do anything useful for businesses, otherwise they would have happily pay workers for the privilege of not working for their competitors.

Since that basically happen approximately never, noncompete agreements without pay should be illegal.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by gibolt on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @12:22AM (#41306764)
Given the option to pay for it, or have it for free, the choice they make not to pay is a clear reason.

If they did have to pay, it could definitely be advantageous to pay employees not to leave, on a selective basis.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by AnthonyMouse on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @11:44PM (#41306586)
> The less labour rights a country has, the more competitive a country's businesses are. If you can keep your workers in quasi-indentured servitude, you're going to be more profitable than a business that can't.

The first statement is largely true, the second statement is not. Somebody has to buy the stuff you make. At the level of an individual company this isn't a thing -- Ford isn't really going to sell a big percentage of its cars to its own employees -- but at the national level it is, because Ford does sell a substantial percentage of its cars to Americans. And it's easier for companies to sell domestically than internationally because domestic customers will favor them and foreign governments use protectionism to varying degrees.

The reason that most "labor rights" make companies uncompetitive is that they're inefficient. Requiring companies to provide specific benefits, rather than money with which employees can buy whatever they want, lowers real compensation because wages adjust to compensate (typically by rising slower than global GDP) and then you're stuck with whatever version of the benefit the employer provides instead of having the option to take the money instead and being able to choose yourself in a competitive market. Which raises the company's costs relative to their perceived attractiveness to workers. Unions for structural reasons typically prioritize things like seniority rules that aren't to the benefit of all their members (namely the newest ones) and in turn make it hard for the company to attract new talents who don't want to wait 30 years to get the salary a foreign competitor can offer today. This is why, when given the choice between higher pay and some other employer-provided benefit, people typically take the money. But the rules get passed because they're sold as a free lunch, and then industries decline there because they're not.

Non-competes are the opposite because they have a similar effect on the industry as a whole as do the inefficient labor rules, i.e. they increase the costs of other companies in the same jurisdiction. John was working for company A and wants to work for company B, but isn't allowed to, so company B have to hire Chris, who isn't as good -- otherwise company B would have hired him to begin with. It hurts the workers and every company except for company A. Then company A (or as a group, large incumbents) go to the government to lobby to let them do this even though it hurts the industry and country as a whole.

In general, anti-trust rules improve the competitiveness of a country's industries, because they improve the competitive fitness of its companies and allow them to survive when new foreign competitors come who would eat the lunch of a wasteful bureaucratic incumbent that isn't accustomed to competitive pressure but can't touch a hundred nimble entrepreneurs who are already doing what it takes to win the customer's business in the face of stiff competition. It turns out this is also the same thing that actually helps workers.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by asah on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @01:26AM (#41307031)
-1: banning non-competes attracts the best talent.

https://www.google.com/search?q=non-compete+route+128+vs+sil...

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by rqtwteye on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @10:24PM (#41306208)
Has anything good ever come from the Chamber of Commerce? They did whatever they could do kill Obamacare, they are constantly against environmental regulation and now this. Such a terrible organization.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by albertop on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @10:33PM (#41306246)
And after the years of insurance premiums going through the roof, you still consider Obamacare a success story?
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by tuckerman on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @10:39PM (#41306262)
Not being able to exclude people because of preexisting conditions and ensuring children have access to coverage seems like a pretty big success story.

Is it perfect? No, probably not. But repealing it would likely increase the budget deficit according to the CBO and put a large number of folks into a much worse situation than they are in now.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by analog31 on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @10:54PM (#41306345)
Indeed, at the time it was widely understood that Obamacare was about access, not cost. This was a necessary compromise in order to placate the insurance industry.

The battle over cost was left for another day.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by pton_xd on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @11:13PM (#41306442)
On the one hand, yeah of course guaranteeing coverage for children and preexisting conditions is an obvious win. And removing coverage caps.

But beyond that... has average life expectancy measurably increased because of this "extra" insurance coverage?

Has the number of medical-related bankrupcties measurably decreased as a result of the expanded coverage?

I can't find solid data but everything I've seen suggests that those haven't really changed at all.

Given that, in the grand scheme of things, has anything actually improved for us, collectively? Healthcare is much more expensive now, but maybe that would have happened regardless.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by KetoManx64 on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @12:14AM (#41306728)
One of the big consequences of government programs is the unseen costs. How many businesses never got created because of the increased burden that Obamacare placed on everyone, how many ideas never came to fruition, how many new technologies never got created? How many young entrepreneurs never took the risk that could have lead to a great new technology, found a cure for cancer, etc.?
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by mjmsmith on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @12:41AM (#41306858)
One of the big consequences of being denied health insurance is dying.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by rapidaneurism on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @02:16AM (#41307297)
Not my Circus, as I get European 'free' coverage: is this reflected in excess death data?
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by VancouverMan on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @10:14AM (#41310516)
Problems like the need for health insurance, and the high cost of health care in general, have only arisen in the first place because unnecessary government-imposed regulation and government-imposed overhead have wiped out nearly all real competition in the health care sector, and introduced numerous other inefficiencies along the way.

Artificially limiting the ability of new participants to enter the market on the supply side, for example, creates an artificially-oligopolistic environment without the natural competitive pressures that force pricing down.

Even worse, this in turn results in an environment that attracts people and organizations who want to exploit these government-created inefficiencies for personal profit, rather than attracting people and organizations who want to provide higher-quality and lower-cost service than their competitors.

The end result of this government intervention is artificially-high costs for abysmal service.

The situation only gets worse when government tries to intervene with even more "solutions" for the problems that government itself created in the first place.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by erehweb on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @01:08AM (#41306952)
If anything, Obamacare enables people to take entrepreneurial risk rather than have to stay with a job for otherwise-unavailable health insurance.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by peterashford on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @06:05AM (#41308645)
Are you American? I know there are people who believe this Ayn Rand stuff but it always surprises me when I come across one
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by KetoManx64 on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @11:16AM (#41311137)
I do love Ayn Rand and her works, and Stefan Molyneux. Great philosophers that have brought a lot of value to the world.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by Tostino on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @12:08AM (#41306699)
I saw this in the thread elsewhere, but it was a great point, so I'll repeat it: https://www.kff.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Figure-1-12.p...

Where on the chart did Obamacare get passed / implemented?

It was always about access, not cost. That pissed me off back then that single payer was not even on the table in negotiations. It was watered down to get it through, but I am still thankful that something got passed... I would still have a messed up rotator cuff from when I was 15 otherwise.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by jackthetab on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @10:38AM (#41310748)
Your link goes to a blank page. :-?
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by BizarroLand on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @12:07PM (#41311575)
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by VikingCoder on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @11:21PM (#41306484)
Show me where on the chart PPACA came into effect.

https://www.kff.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Figure-1-12.p...

It should be obvious, right?

I don't deny that it sucks that health insurance is so expensive. Of course it sucks. And I have tons of empathy for anyone who is suffering under the expenses. But blaming our current costs on PPACA is just not supported by the evidence I'm seeing. If you have other evidence I should look at, I welcome it.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by Cody-99 on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @10:52PM (#41306338)
It is objectively a success lol. The elimination of preexisting conditions and annual/lifetime coverage caps alone was huge. Not to mention the tens of millions of people who received health insurance who wouldn't have had any at all.

It is insane to me you are going to sit there and try to act otherwise.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by sem000 on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @11:00PM (#41306382)
Are you currently playing the premium for a family of four with a decent deductible where it doesn’t feel like you empty your pockets because you want to make sure your pain isn’t going to kill you?
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by collingreen on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @11:27PM (#41306503)
Is the implication here that if insurance is too expensive it is because of obamacare and nothing else?
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by koolba on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @11:44PM (#41306587)
It is because of the ACA. The people forced to buy policies on the individual market are being rated with those people that previously could only get policies from the high risk pool. So their costs are much higher than before, with higher deductibles, and going up every year.

In contrast, people with corporate policies are generally self insured so the per capital costs are lower. Really any company with more than a few hundred people is better off being self insured.

So yes it’s great for the minority that could not get insurance (outside of high risk pools) previously. But it’s purely at the expense of the healthy subsidizing them with overly expensive policies.

Its a really stupid system and of all the possible solutions they (the Democrats when they rammed it through Congress at the 11th hour) picked the one that provides the least actual healthcare and funnels the most money to insurance companies.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by nl on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @12:08AM (#41306697)
> It is because of the ACA.

Linked elsewhere: https://www.kff.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Figure-1-12.p...

That's a pretty straight line, with no noticeable change because of ACA.

> But it’s purely at the expense of the healthy subsidizing them with overly expensive policies.

This is how insurance works.

The US needs a proper public healthcare system. Good luck finding a way to make that happen though.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by koolba on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @06:42AM (#41308899)
> This is how insurance works.

The point is not about insurance in general, it’s the isolation of the individual market from the pools of large employers.

Yes the healthy will always be subsidizing the rest, but it’s a specific subset of healthy bearing that burden. It’s not the system as a whole.

> The US needs a proper public healthcare system. Good luck finding a way to make that happen though.

Ban corporate self insured policies so that the risk pools are unified to contain everyone.

Eliminate the deduction for offering insurance. Right now the same policy is cheaper if paid by the company as its pretax dollars (vs after tax dollars for an individual policy).

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by rqtwteye on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @10:37AM (#41310736)
"Ban corporate self insured policies so that the risk pools are unified to contain everyone."

There should be only state or nation wide risk pools.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by ac29 on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @12:36AM (#41306834)
> people forced to buy policies on the individual market

The individual mandate has been gone since 2019.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by irjustin on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @01:26AM (#41307030)
I'm quite naive, isn't the individual mandate being removed the reason why the premiums are going up? i.e. lots of healthy people stopped buying and thusly leaving only the expensive guys?
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by ceejayoz on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @10:49AM (#41310856)
Yes, that's a significant aspect of the problem now.

They were going up before, during, and post ACA mandate, though. They've been on an upwards march alongside the underlying per-capita healthcare costs for decades. https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/u-s-spe... ("Total national health expenditures, US $ per capita, 1970-2022" - $2k/year --> $13k/year per person)

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by ac29 on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @12:16PM (#41311665)
According to the latest data I could find, 2022 had the lowest rate of uninsured Americans on record: https://www.kff.org/uninsured/issue-brief/key-facts-about-th...

There were some pandemic era programs that increased the number of insured people, so it is possible things have changed since 2022. Either way, there is no evidence that the repeal of the individual mandate actually resulted in less people with health insurance.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by koolba on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @06:36AM (#41308864)
By “forced” in this context I mean people who want to have health insurance but have no choice but to acquire it on the individual market.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by pixelatedindex on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @11:14PM (#41306453)
Insurance is going up across the board, it’s not a healthcare thing. Obamacare can be successful while premiums go up as well, it is not mutually exclusive.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by KetoManx64 on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @12:17AM (#41306738)
How do you know that Obamacare isn't the thing that's causing insurance to go up across the board?

If everyone is ensured, no matter the pre-existinf conditions, people take more risks, live more dangerously, drive a little faster, eat a bit worse, etc. Nobody ever talks about the hidden consequences of these oh so wonderful government programs.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by test6554 on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @01:25AM (#41307028)
Socialized healthcare systems tend to create stigma around peoples unhealthy choices. It no longer is harming just your health and wallet. It is costing society money.

This creates an incentive to pass laws prohibiting products and lifestyles deemed unhealthy.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by consteval on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @09:33AM (#41310124)
Privatized healthcare has the opposite incentive, whereby unhealthy choices may be ignored or even encouraged because they're a money-making opportunity.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by KetoManx64 on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @11:32AM (#41311268)
It turns into this endless cycle of "we need to ban this and ban this and ban this" and never looking at the actual cause of the problem. Just the government creating more work for itself and creating more laws to control people's actions.

I think the stigma point is definitely true, but it's not doing anything to improve things. Obeise people are looked down at by society, but in the US 70% of the population is obese and the number just keeps growing. The natural incentive system is broken by government programs. Why should I bother eating healthy and limit my diet when I can just get health insurance when I get diabetes?

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by pas on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @04:43AM (#41308174)
> Nobody ever talks about the hidden consequences of these oh so wonderful government programs.

Are you ok? Did you just wake up from a coma and suffering from some selective amnesia? Have you been living under a rock? Maybe you missed any and all libertarian content? Or the articles about how safety precautions give a sense of safety which result in more risky behaviors? (From bicycle helmets to OSHA stuff.) But maybe you have ran into articles about how car safety standards act as a birth-rate suppressor? No?

Spare us this "why nobody thinks of the consequences".

Premiums are going up because healthcare costs are going up, because there's a growing number of elderly, also because all services related costs are going up. (Because the Baumol effect, and so on.) Not to mention that as economic surplus grows (ie. GDP grows) people are willing and able to spend more on healthcare.

...

Check veterinary service costs and pet insurance premiums. Obama did that too?

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by smileysteve on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @07:37AM (#41309247)
For 1, because my private health insurance premiums had doubled (ignoring switching plans for new teaser rates) the years before the ACA was passed.

Anecdotally, when the ACA marketplace went live, and I purchased individually, my health insurance costs decreased for a year (no subsidy)

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by KetoManx64 on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @11:12AM (#41311097)
Obamacare was talked about for YEARS before it was passed, I don't think it would be far fetched to imagine that the insurance companies started raising prices as soon as the topic started getting traction. It's a multi trillion dollar industry after all and they spend big $$$ on analysts to plan for the future.

Of course the price went down after Obamacare got passed. Can you imagine how much outrage there would have been if it had passed and everyone found out that it was going to cost them double or triple what they used to pay? The government took out some loans (using your future and your children's future taxes as collateral) and made sure they were lower. And then a year or two later when everyone stopped focusing on it and it had gotten normalized they stopped propping it up.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by ceejayoz on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @11:31AM (#41311266)
https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/u-s-spe... - see the chart labeled "Total national health expenditures, US $ per capita, 1970-2022".

We've been seeing healthcare costs (and premiums, which largely have to match those) go up in pretty much a straight line since at least 1970.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by KetoManx64 on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @11:45AM (#41311387)
Thanks for the share. I imagine the costs has a high correlation with the American obeisity epidemic, which has continued to get worse and worse. Obamacare creates a disincentive for people to live and eat a healthy lifestyle. Why bother eating a good diet when you can just get health insurance anyways no matter your pre-existing conditions (be they natural, or much more likely, due to your lifestyle choices).

Eg: 90-95% of diabetes cases in the US are Type 2 (Lifestyle related)

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by pixelatedindex on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @08:59PM (#41315683)
I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say people are unhealthy because insurance is cheaper. The average person does not live in a way they want to harm themselves.

I would say it’s because most Americans don’t walk or bike much, food desserts are plenty, transit infrastructure sucks, overworking, and lack of time for vacation/self-care all contribute.

You are forced to have a job if you expect typical medical coverage, and making people do something they don’t want to do won’t incentivize them to take care of their health.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by amanaplanacanal on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @11:40PM (#41306567)
They were going up before the ACA. Not sure what that has to do with anything.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by whatever1 on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @11:15PM (#41306455)
The premiums are going up because someone has to pay for the profits of the for profit insurance companies, of the for profit hospitals etc

They all have to report yoy increase of earnings right?

So there enjoy your capitalistic health insurance. Which by the way dumps you once you are old, then I have to pay for you too despite the fact it is you who wanted a completely deregulated health insurance market.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by johnnyanmac on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @10:57PM (#41306372)
Yes. Welcome to how insurance works.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by drawkward on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @07:08AM (#41309043)
Can you prove to me the counterfactual point: that without Obamacare, insurance premiums would have not risen?
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by KerrAvon on Thursday August 22, 2024 @02:18AM (#41317349)
Not in recent years. They became evil enough that Apple felt compelled to resign membership.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by benreesman on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @10:35PM (#41306253)
This is a war and it’s long time the only people who can operate the machinery start treating it as such.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by benreesman on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @02:23AM (#41307339)
I’ve seen these people commit felonies, I want them in prison.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by johnnyanmac on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @10:51PM (#41306324)
>would have put American workers, businesses, and our economy at a competitive disadvantage

Do they really think American workers are moving en masse to EU/Asia or something? I don't even think they work that well if you emigrate.

We know the real reason. But PR at least needs to pretend to have a good excuse.

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by hn_throwaway_99 on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @10:56PM (#41306366)
Another reason this is just laughably ridiculous is that the place that has the most dynamic, innovative economy has banned non-competes for a long time, and there is a lot of good research (e.g. comparing California with Massachusetts) that concludes a key pillar in the rise of Silicon Valley was the prohibition on non-competes in California.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by darksim905 on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @02:46AM (#41307470)
W...what? What does it matter if you have non-competes when companies have gentleman agreements not to poach each other's staff?
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by shmerl on Tuesday August 20, 2024 @11:41PM (#41306572)
This smells of 1984's "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by mavelikara on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @01:06AM (#41306944)
She is not wrong. It does give Americans who are business owners an advantage when they compete with businesses based in other jurisdictions overseas.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by thayne on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @02:08AM (#41307247)
I could see an argument that businesses and maybe even an economy are "disadvantaged" by banning noncompetes, even if I don't agree with it. But workers?

How could an agreement that prevents a worker from switching to other companies that would be the most interested in hiring them possibly benefit the worker?

Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by nvarsj on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @05:38AM (#41308469)
She is implying that businesses will leave the US due to regulation. It's the most ridiculous argument ever though, given US is the largest and most profitable market for any business. A small thing like banning non-competes will not cause any company to leave the US.
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by snapplebobapple on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @01:04PM (#41312159)
"I mean, you already severely handicapped the country by outlawing slavery. This was a bridge too far." she continued, "Just look at what North Korea and China have been able to accomplish with death camps. If you exclude the workers who died of natural causes, they have a 100% retention rate and productivity is way higher than here! This is the competitive landscape emerging in the global community and America needs to be number one! It's just too expensive to get to number one by being number one in educational outcomes, healthcare, transportation, or any of the other social or physical infrastructure needed to get to number one in the world economy without unjust exploitation of the citizenry and citizenry adjacent people."
Re:US judge throws out FTC's ban on non-compete agreements by CamelCaseName on Wednesday August 21, 2024 @07:36PM (#41315247)
Friendly reminder that the "U.S. Chamber of Commerce" is not a government organization, but a privately funded corporate lobby group.