Judge James Boasberg - an Obama appointee - dismisses the case on market definition quibbling. Boasberg says there are no clear lines on what even constitutes social networking.
Basically the judge concedes Mark Zuckerberg said 'let's do crimes' but because judges now read antitrust law to require super weird expensive fights over market definitions, the case was dismissed. It can be refiled.
These quotes from Larry Summers are practically word for word Chicago School talking points. Summers is not a scholar, he doesn’t have ideas, he’s merely a lobbyist for capital. bloomberg.com/news/videos/20…
The key political question is whether the point of antitrust is to take on market power or foster it under the guise of efficiency. Summers merely repeats all the old shibboleths, ‘protect competition not competitors,’ ‘1960’s horror show,’ etc.
If you think we have a monopoly problem in America then you have common sense. If you think things are fine then you are Larry Summers. bloomberg.com/news/videos/20…
This is just wrong and a naive read of the Chinese government. The PRC will not respond to anything but force and sustained embarrassment.
Until scientists stop acting like weenies and say 'the virus probably came from the Wuhan Lab and China is covering it up' we get nothing.
The utterly reckless and naive approach to the Chinese government continues to astonish. Their leaders are self-described Leninists who do not believe in scientific truth. To them truth is about raw power, and nothing more.
And by 'force' I don't mean war, I mean using economic and political leverage to protect ourselves from PRC coercion.
Judiciary markup of big tech antitrust bills reconvenes, members are officially tired already.
Jim Jordan says the conflict of interest break-up bill HR 3825 has too much vagueness and will allow an "army of woke civil servants" to carve up big tech.
And now @RepJayapal is giving a good history of how break-ups help foster innovation.
While the NCAA ruling was narrow and full of consumer welfare nonsense - the court is bad after all - there are some useful parts to take away. First, the court ruled that suppressing labor competition is an antitrust harm.
Second, the court narrowed the cross-balancing test involved in AMEX by saying that any cost to one set of stakeholders had to have a direct connection to benefits to others. The NCAA can't claim that not paying student athletes is good for fans unless they directly prove it.
Re: NYC mayor's race. I took a quick look at the top four candidate's web sites to see how they see small business from an anti-monopoly lens. They all have 'get rid of regulations' and 'provide capital to struggling small businesses'' pro forma box checking.
Kathryn Garcia wants to retain the restaurant fee delivery cap on Uber, et al. She also has an interesting proposal on helping to live-stream theater. And she discusses the need to break from cable monopolies for universal broadband. kgfornyc.com/policy/recover…
Eric Adams wants to retain the restaurant fee delivery cap on Uber, et al. He also wants to tax online services, like streaming, and use the money to cut taxes on local businesses who are disadvantages by tech giants. ericadams2021.com/erics-economic…
I thought about the explosive news of Lina Khan becoming FTC Chair, and wrote up what it means for our politics. Why did Biden pick someone to lead an antitrust revolution? mattstoller.substack.com/p/the-antitrus…
Khan is something rare in progressive politics, someone with academic credentials and mastery over a dense technical subject, but also connected with a broad-based populist social movement that crosses partisan lines. mattstoller.substack.com/p/the-antitrus…
I've talked to a lot of people in business, both Republicans and Democrats, and they really respect Khan. It's because, I think, she got her training not as a lawyer but as a business journalist talking to people facing monopoly. Here's an example. ideas.time.com/2013/11/01/why…