6 ms·
Makes sense. I've stated this a few times, but one of Microsoft's biggest misteps in the 90's, and there weren't that many, was its absolute lack of any politi
by chollida1 9y ago
Makes sense.
I've stated this a few times, but one of Microsoft's biggest misteps in the 90's, and there weren't that many, was its absolute lack of any political lobbying.
There are alot of very politically connected people who pointed out that if Microsoft had of "played the game" that the chances of their anti trust trial actually happening would have been alot less.
Google and Facebook learned this lesson well and now spend on lobbying at a rate that would make wall street blush and is on par with the heaviest lobbyist out there. it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that the new tech elite are the real Washington insiders.
Just look at what Uber and AirBnb spend on lobbing.
Given this, it makes sense that if you were in a new industry with the rules being created all around you, you'd want to control the narrative as much as possible.
I'd argue that Silicon Valley now dominates even wall street in terms of buying political influence in the US nowadays.
To bring an example back to my Canadian roots, The Toronto Maple Leafs hired the man who wrote the NHL's Collective Bargining Agreement with the players to better have an advantage when writing player contracts.
- samsonradu 9y ago> I'd argue that Silicon Valley now dominates even wall street in terms of buying political influence in the US nowadays. This opinion doesn't seem to be shared around here. See this thread from yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16466064 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16466064
- danharaj 9y agoSilicon Valley's political influence might be a large splash but finance is the pond itself.
- yellowstuff 9y agoThe Wall Street bailout probably saved the financial system, ultimately made the government money, but was incredibly unpopular. The bailout of GM lost money, helped some politically connected groups, and was mostly popular and uncontroversial. Jobs are political capital, and neither finance nor tech have that many, so they make it up with cash.
- user5994461 9y agoWhat's the impact on American pensions and mortgages if the banks crash?
- bduerst 9y agoBut the lack of any major financial reform has left commercial banks open to continue making risky investments. As well as a lack of regulation on subprime lending, leading us to a now-growing subprime auto loan bubble. The bailouts treated the symptom, not the cause.
- yellowstuff 9y agoI don't have a ton of first hand knowledge on the risk appetite of banks or the effect of banking regulation. But I assert that Matt Levine is very knowledgeable about these things and he disagrees with you. His points are that multiple 10 figure fines, higher capital requirements, and a general culture shift have actually made banks less profitable and less risky, as was intended. EG: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2015-02-20/capital-rules-aren-t-the-only-reason-banking-is-boring https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2015-02-20/capital-r... https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-09-07/boring-banks-and-silly-cds https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-09-07/boring-ba... https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-11-16/deregulation-and-proxy-recounts https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-11-16/deregulat... https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-11-20/utilities-analysts-and-fines https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-11-20/utilities...
- bduerst 9y agoRather than link dump his blog (which I read) can you quote the specific sections? His weekly opinion posts cover a large variety of non-related topics and nobody knows which one you're referencing. There also isn't anything there about the subprime auto loans, which even the esteemed Matt Levine acknowledges are an issue: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-19/fraud-satisfaction-and-bubbles https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-19/fraud-sat... > Here's a story about subprime car loans that actually doesn't lean on the this-is-2008-all-over-again analogy; that was just me being cranky. That said though, it sounds like 2008 all over again!
- saas_co_de 9y agoRight. They can pay and maybe get something in return but they don't have their employees running the treasury like Goldman Sachs or picking the president's cabinet like Citigroup. Whole different level. The scary thing is that the most valuable political asset SV has to trade is its ability to spy on, censor, and manipulate the informational flow of its customers.
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago> I'd argue that Silicon Valley now dominates even wall street in terms of buying political influence in the US nowadays Six months ago, yes. Since then a combination of conservatives feeling discriminated against on social media, Peter Thiel being Peter Thiel and Facebook and Twitter bombing their Congressional hearings regarding Russia have changed the mood. Money only buys so much political goodwill.
- andbberger 9y ago> Money only buys so much political goodwill. Yeah, no. I don't buy that at all.
- dsacco 9y agoWhy don't you buy it?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- winstonewert 9y agoNobody is paying him enough to afford buying it.
- rrcaptain 9y agoConsider that the GOP passed a considerably unpopular tax cut with a razor thin majority because their donors wanted it.