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That's not what rent seeking is. Rent seeking is manipulating public policy or conditions to maximize profits. That would be like them calling for regulation of
by bko 3y ago
That's not what rent seeking is. Rent seeking is manipulating public policy or conditions to maximize profits. That would be like them calling for regulation of AI and gpus so that only they can produce them because "ai safety", which I don't believe they're doing
They developed an expertise and they are temporarily profiting extraordinarily from it.
They're practically the only player for now but it's different from a harmful monopoly enforced by force from the state
- mjburgess 3y agoI think we've seen over the last 20 years that the 80s definition of undue market power is unfit for purpose in an era where state-granted IP monopolies (copyright, patents, etc.) and network effects (app-stores and other two-sided markets) create novel sorts of anti-competitive market power. It is highly likely these state granted rights over IP are part of nvidia's market power. Prima facie, we should be suspicious that nvidia is able to keep $11bn out of $19bn -- why is no investor on the planet not chasing after at least half that? In the end what we want is a free market where competition drives down prices by limiting profits, and where the power of capitalists is limited by their need to compete, and where the power of labour is improved likewise (and so on). Given just why we even have a free market in the first place, companies like nvidia cropping up should be a cause for concern. My hope is, exactly, that this is a transitiory effect where they're able to exploit their market position only in the very short term.