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Matt Stoller Profile picture
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3 Sep, 5 tweets, 4 min read
1. I want to put something on the table for conservatives who fear big tech. The FTC just refiled an antitrust suit against Facebook to break up the company, and both Republicans on the commission - @FTCPhillips and @CSWilsonFTC -VOTED AGAINST IT. mattstoller.substack.com/p/lina-khan-le…
2. There are a bunch of Republicans, like @RepKenBuck @RepArmstrongND and @HawleyMO who are serious about market power questions. Lina Khan, who led the refiling of this antitrust case against Facebook, got 16 Republican votes for confirmation. But... mattstoller.substack.com/p/lina-khan-le…
3. The GOP is split. GOP leaders Jim Jordan, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Kevin McCarthy oppose stronger antitrust laws, because “the laws currently on the books can and should be used to break up Big Tech.” Their own allies OPPOSED refiling a FB antitrust case Trump initiated.
4. The Republicans are split. And the FTC commissioners - @FTCPhillips and @CSWilsonFTC - are deeply hostile to addressing big tech, hiding behind culture warring to avoid being noticed. I hope the right starts to notice. mattstoller.substack.com/p/lina-khan-le…
5. Both parties are fragmented on big tech, but Biden, like Trump, is actually doing a bunch of useful things on that score. Conservatives despise Biden, but I hope that doesn't lead them to empower Silicon Valley monopolists. Pay attention to @CSWilsonFTC and @FTCPhillips!

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More from @matthewstoller

Matt Stoller Profile picture
9 Sep
Here's my stab at trying to explain why there are shortages everywhere. Basically a monopolist is a business model based on bottlenecking something, so to the extent you encourage monopolization, you get shortages. mattstoller.substack.com/p/counterfeit-…
The number one problem small business mention these days is shortages, either labor or product. The Fed's Beige Book two days ago mentioned shortage 80 times. This is a huge unstated political problem. mattstoller.substack.com/p/counterfeit-…
I've gotten a lot of feedback from consumers, business people and various workers on shortages they are seeing, and that info is super helpful. I've set up a form where you can share what you're seeing or or experiencing re: shortages. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…
Read 10 tweets
Matt Stoller Profile picture
25 Aug
1. A major new study by @reed_showalter shows that monopolization likely drives political corruption. When industry concentration goes up, lobbying spend goes up. When it goes down, lobbying spend goes down. The link is eery. economicliberties.us/press-release/…
2. The lesson from the paper is intuitive and obvious, but hadn't been proved before. "The bigger companies get, the more powerful they become." bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
3. @reed_showalter followed three different industries. Tech, oil and gas, and pharmaceuticals. He found a four year lag on lobbying spend linked to concentration. Basically when executives have to compete they focus on competing. When they have a monopoly they focus on politics.
Read 6 tweets
Matt Stoller Profile picture
6 Aug
Good piece on the debate over crypto rules. The crypto lobby wants to engage in money laundering and tax avoidance. That's all this is about. washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/…
There's a reason the crypto people despise Elizabeth Warren, because she's presenting an actual vision of a fair financial system. And that gets in the way of their cruel thunderdome vision where everyone is equally criminal.
Anti-monopolists believe in a strong state, not a weak one. A weak state leads to authoritarianism or social collapse. That's why the crypto lobby is full of people excited for the end of the dollar. The end of the dollar would be very bad.
Read 4 tweets
Matt Stoller Profile picture
6 Aug
I'm circling back on the Biden TRIPS waiver announcement from May. Why has @AmbassadorTai failed so far? Why are Pfizer and Moderna now raising prices on vaccines? mattstoller.substack.com/p/bidens-failu…
Pfizer and Moderna are basically mocking Biden and Angela Merkel by not making enough vaccines and raising prices at the same time. Just a disaster. mattstoller.substack.com/p/bidens-failu…
Meanwhile, as Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna hoard, Russia and China have helped build vaccine production facilities in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, India, Italy, Morocco, Serbia, South Korea, Turkey, and the UAE. mattstoller.substack.com/p/bidens-failu…
Read 4 tweets
Matt Stoller Profile picture
5 Aug
Good for the Biden administration. Unregulated crypto is useful for money laundering and ransomware. We cannot have a shadow financial system that’s not subject to securities laws and IRS rules. Crypto shouldn't be exempt from the law because people think it's cool.
If crypto is subject to know your customer rules, securities law, and taxes, fine. Go ahead and have fun. Otherwise, it's just about creating a zone of lawlessness.
Basically civil libertarians opposed the Bank Secrecy Act in the 1970s because they thought the right to engage in money laundering in Switzerland is a human right. Sorry but no. Financial surveillance is a core part of what it means to have a state.
Read 6 tweets
Matt Stoller Profile picture
3 Aug
Love that the CDC director is willing to order anyone to do anything based on flimsy social scientific theories except extend an eviction moratorium. Respect science!
Biden had the right instincts to go for normalcy. His CDC director is awful and public health experts shouldn’t be making political calls. Fire her and fire Jeff Zients.
If you’re going to ring the alarm bell on an emergency then at least have the CDC extend an eviction moratorium.
Read 4 tweets

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