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Here's the thing... anti-trust breakups are a hack to work around one core problem - taxation. The reason corporations like FANG metastasize and become uncontr

Here's the thing... anti-trust breakups are a hack to work around one core problem - taxation. The reason corporations like FANG metastasize and become uncontrollable is that they have unfair competitive advantages that can be neutralized by proper taxation. For example, why can Amazon ask cities to slash their taxes if they move their HQs there? What are they going to do otherwise? Not have office? Why doesn't my small ISV get the same tax advantages? Corporations like Amazon effectively don't pay taxes and YOU'RE subsidizing them. We should be outraged. Instead. Just change the law. Make it retroactive (ex post factor legislation only applies to criminal law) and demand that these companies immediately bring in their money into the US and pay taxes. Everything else is just a hack.

ocdtrekkie 6y ago
Ex post facto legislation is extremely risky as a chilling effect: If the government can retroactively take away your earnings at any time, why bother developing businesses. I have my doubts the courts would side with you either. We need to tax trillionaire corporations much more aggressively, but retroactive action probably isn't a good way to do it.
alacombe 6y ago
1) amazon is pretty much not making any profit 2) it is a mistake to think about tax break as lost revenue. You can tax 100% everything, then wonder why the "official" economy has halted and whine about "lost revenue" of the black market. The problem is not the black market, it's the 100% taxation.
- magicalist 6y ago
  1) You might be thinking of 2014 or so 2) That doesn't follow. Just because some tax hikes could dissuade businesses from operating and depress revenue doesn't mean they all do.