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I think both are true. Anti-trust is a funny thing because one hand it is clearly needed for power dynamics, but on the other hand orthodox econ with its incre
by Ericson2314 5y ago
I think both are true.
Anti-trust is a funny thing because one hand it is clearly needed for power dynamics, but on the other hand orthodox econ with its increasing price curves underestimates how many sorts of monopolies are in fact "natural".
Put another way, anti-trust looks very different if one doesn't believe competition is a stable outcome in the long term.
In the specific Walmart/Amazon case, I would like to see a nationalized warehouse network run by the postal service. Warehousing-distribution of goods is just "content-addressed post".
- camjohnson26 5y agoEvery economy has information networks like roads, broadband, shipping services, etc, and government’s role in the economy should be to keep those networks fair and efficient. Free market competition is the best way to handle price discovery, but it becomes a problem when one company can take over the full information network. Most of the massive companies today have successfully captured an entire network or a huge part of one, Facebook with the social graph, Microsoft with OS, Amazon with AWS and online shopping, Apple with mobile devices. Any antitrust legislation should focus on opening up those networks, but without introducing the inefficiencies that show up any time government takes something over because of misaligned incentives.
- native_samples 5y agoIt seems very unlikely that a government run warehouse network would have invested into Kiva Robotics like Amazon did. Their warehouse tech is a big part of their competitive advantage.