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It doesn't have to be regulated to be rent extraction. You just need to make the switching costs really high, no help needed from the legal system. Look at Or
by jbooth 9y ago
It doesn't have to be regulated to be rent extraction. You just need to make the switching costs really high, no help needed from the legal system.
Look at Oracle.
- pm90 9y agoYou're making good points but the nice thing about capitalism is that if a business finds switching costs too high, then another business will come up with a cheaper technology and kick the older businesses' ass. What we really need is to ensure that in these scenarios, the older business doesn't use its power and resources to stifle the upstart. That is one purpose of AntiTrust laws, I believe.
- svachalek 9y agoThat's an effect of competition, not capitalism. As mentioned in the feature article, capitalism itself has a tendency to create monopolies and extract rents since that produces a much higher ROI than engaging in competition to produce useful goods.