3 ms·

greedflation is real. It’s real because of competition drying up. Lina Khan is either incompetent or corrupt or both. The more consolidation we have at the top

by nojvek 3y ago

greedflation is real. It’s real because of competition drying up. Lina Khan is either incompetent or corrupt or both. The more consolidation we have at the top, the more power they have to raise their prices without consequences.

7thaccount 3y ago
When everything is an unregulated monopoly, those companies can set prices however they want.
- cjbgkagh 3y ago
  Regulated monopolies are generally quite successful in lobbying their regulators to end up with regulatory capture. Then you end up with the worst of both worlds with no possibility of a competitor to displace them.
  - 7thaccount 3y ago
    Not always, but yes sometimes. Not sure what the solution is, but I don't think it should be legal for a former regulator to get employed for a company they're regulating. It sets the standard to go easy and a cushy desk job will be waiting for you where you get paid a lot to do nothing. Properly done, regulators push back on cost increases unless we'll justified. A lot of utilities lose rate cases.
    - cjbgkagh 3y ago
      You're talking about the revolving door, that's easy to fix compared to the real problems. Politics is connected to people with money and those same people have investments in the companies being regulated. The regulators will be instructed by politicians to go-easy, and they will because why not, it's other people's money being wasted. The companies will hold their services hostage to the point that a politician/regulator must have the fortitude to be willing to let the regulated company fail, let the services fail, see large numbers of people laid off, have people's pensions take a hit, and endure constant attacks by news media. Or they can put up a noisy but ineffectual fight which they give in at the last minute and then be able to tell people that at least they tried.

3 ms·

greedflation is real. It’s real because of competition drying up. Lina Khan is either incompetent or corrupt or both. The more consolidation we have at the top

by nojvek 3y ago

7thaccount 3y ago
When everything is an unregulated monopoly, those companies can set prices however they want.
- cjbgkagh 3y ago
  Regulated monopolies are generally quite successful in lobbying their regulators to end up with regulatory capture. Then you end up with the worst of both worlds with no possibility of a competitor to displace them.
  - 7thaccount 3y ago
    Not always, but yes sometimes. Not sure what the solution is, but I don't think it should be legal for a former regulator to get employed for a company they're regulating. It sets the standard to go easy and a cushy desk job will be waiting for you where you get paid a lot to do nothing. Properly done, regulators push back on cost increases unless we'll justified. A lot of utilities lose rate cases.
    - cjbgkagh 3y ago
      You're talking about the revolving door, that's easy to fix compared to the real problems. Politics is connected to people with money and those same people have investments in the companies being regulated. The regulators will be instructed by politicians to go-easy, and they will because why not, it's other people's money being wasted. The companies will hold their services hostage to the point that a politician/regulator must have the fortitude to be willing to let the regulated company fail, let the services fail, see large numbers of people laid off, have people's pensions take a hit, and endure constant attacks by news media. Or they can put up a noisy but ineffectual fight which they give in at the last minute and then be able to tell people that at least they tried.