4 ms·

The recent Tesla cases are examples of small companies trying to prevent their larger suppliers from making them obsolete. A lot of anti-competitive law in the

The recent Tesla cases are examples of small companies trying to prevent their larger suppliers from making them obsolete. A lot of anti-competitive law in the US is not "big vs small". Many of the biggies are small vs small or even small vs big - occupational licensing, exclusionary zoning, agricultural laws, lots of state level regulations designed to protect (not very large) incumbents. Sadly protectionism is a widespread plague that doesn't fit any easy narratives.

humanrebar 11y ago
Those not very large groups have very substantial lobbying efforts.
- yummyfajitas 11y ago
  I don't dispute that. And they aren't necessarily small groups in aggregate - e.g., auto dealers are a large collection of small businesses. I.e. that's a large number of small political donors in your state (highly motivated to donate to your opponents) vs one big corp in another state, plus of course rationally ignorant consumer/voters.
soundwave106 11y ago
How about "old vs. new"? That fits Tesla (who are trying to disrupt old auto maker markets). That fits other scenarios that I've seen like, say, large media companies trying to use streaming Internet royalty rates to drive small streaming stations out of business... or (here in Florida) large brewery distributors attempting to prevent direct brewery sales from microbreweries. It is a disease, and it won't go away until everyone stops playing the game of trying to legislate competitive advantage. Some of the worst complainers about protectionism unfortunately are the biggest players. Example: I remember when Gibson complained about their factories being raided, reportedly for using illegal timber (an environmental regulation that some also view as protectionism courtesy of the Pacific Northwest timber industry). It got a lot of press, but my initial reaction was one of schadenfreude. Because Gibson was notorious for playing their own "protectionism" game courtesy of a lot of dubious patent / copyright lawsuits on various competitors (eg Paul Reed Smith, Warmoth, Elderly), virtual rock band games (Guitar Hero and Rock Band), Paper Jamz guitars, and probably others I can't recall at the time.

humanrebar 11y ago

Those not very large groups have very substantial lobbying efforts.

yummyfajitas 11y ago
I don't dispute that. And they aren't necessarily small groups in aggregate - e.g., auto dealers are a large collection of small businesses. I.e. that's a large number of small political donors in your state (highly motivated to donate to your opponents) vs one big corp in another state, plus of course rationally ignorant consumer/voters.

soundwave106 11y ago

How about "old vs. new"? That fits Tesla (who are trying to disrupt old auto maker markets). That fits other scenarios that I've seen like, say, large media companies trying to use streaming Internet royalty rates to drive small streaming stations out of business... or (here in Florida) large brewery distributors attempting to prevent direct brewery sales from microbreweries. It is a disease, and it won't go away until everyone stops playing the game of trying to legislate competitive advantage. Some of the worst complainers about protectionism unfortunately are the biggest players. Example: I remember when Gibson complained about their factories being raided, reportedly for using illegal timber (an environmental regulation that some also view as protectionism courtesy of the Pacific Northwest timber industry). It got a lot of press, but my initial reaction was one of schadenfreude. Because Gibson was notorious for playing their own "protectionism" game courtesy of a lot of dubious patent / copyright lawsuits on various competitors (eg Paul Reed Smith, Warmoth, Elderly), virtual rock band games (Guitar Hero and Rock Band), Paper Jamz guitars, and probably others I can't recall at the time.