Thread by @matthewstoller

1. I'm reading Republican @RepKenBuck's leaked views on the big tech antitrust hearing, and it's quite a remarkable document. First, the Chicago School has lost the argument. Buck endorses the the fact there's a monopoly crisis.

"Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook have used...

2. "... their monopoly power to act as gatekeepers to the marketplace, undermine potential competition, and pick winners and losers, all while simultaneously cozying up to unfriendly nations like China in order to further expand their global footprint."

3. "Big Tech's titans, with a combined market cap nearing $5 trillion, have tipped the technology marketplace towards monopoly. These tech titans have used their dominant positions to hike fees, misappropriate third-party data, steal IP..."

It goes on. This is a Republican!

4. The House Antitrust report released tomorrow will be far stronger than what Buck has authored.

(It will also include a dumb section ostensibly authored by blowhard @Jim_Jordan and Jordan's dumb staffer Tyler Grimm but actually written by Google and Amazon lawyers. Ignore.)

5. The problem with @RepKenBuck's view is he wants to be too European in his approach to the monopoly. Well-meaning, but afraid to wield power, and too deferential to government. It's weird that the GOP are acting like Europeans and Dems are populists, but here we go.

6. The Antitrust Committee main report will differ in important ways. First @davidcicilline will call for a Glass-Steagall for big tech, a legislative break-up. Second, Cicilline will restore private rights of action so we aren't reliant on government. Third, his ideas will work.

7. The gist is Democrats want clear rules for mergers and monopoly misbehavior, they want to overturn highly pro-monopoly Supreme Court decisions like AMEX, and they want to let ordinary people bring cases. I'm excited to read the House Antitrust Subcommittee report tomorrow.

8. Based on what I'm reading, and based on the fact that Jordan's staff felt the need to leak the @RepKenBuck report and spin it, it's obvious the House Antitrust Report will be historic.

When a Republican is attacking the consumer welfare standard, monopolies are in trouble...