4 ms·

I suspect that lack of strong antitrust contributed greatly to what we have now.

by reliabilityguy 1y ago

vouaobrasil 1y ago
That, and the government support of big business in many other ways as well.
paulddraper 1y ago
What trusts do you see? Apple?
- reliabilityguy 1y ago
  Google, Meta, MSFT, Apple, and many many others. My (perhaps moronic, but hey, I’m not an expert) metric is this: if a company X constantly buys other companies just for the sake of preventing competition —- it’s bad, and we risk to have a monopoly. Which, we almost do have with Google, Apple, and many others. I mean, it’s a fine line to thread: companies should be able to do M&As, but at the same time, they should not be allowed to become monopolies.
  - adastra22 1y ago
    > Google, Meta, MSFT, Apple, and many many others. That's ... not how monopolies work.
    - reliabilityguy 1y ago
      Thank you for a very insightful comment. PS you do not have to have a monopoly to get no or minimal competition.
    - arrosenberg 1y ago
      Antitrust law covers a broad range of anti-competitive corporate behavior. Don't be pedantic.
- carefulfungi 1y ago
  If you want to read about this, "industry concentration rate" is a good search term. In general, studies show that US industry concentration (percentage of the market claimed by the largest entrants) is increasing (indicating a decrease in competition). Here's an example: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/a-note-on-industry-concentration-measurement-20230203.html https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/a-no.... And another: https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/voices.uchicago.edu/dist/7/1291/files/2024/06/kwon-et-al-2024-100-years-of-rising-corporate-concentration.pdf https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/voices.uchicago.edu/dist/7/129... This doesn't seem like a topic with an irrefutable answer, though, due to the complexity of measuring. Here's an interesting paper on that complexity and a contrary point of view: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w32762/w32762.pdf https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w32762/w327...
  - paulddraper 1y ago
    I wouldn't disagree. But do have Instagram + TikTok + YouTube have anti-trust issues? There is a concentration of only three of them for short-form internet video, but none a monopoly, nor (AFAIK) trust issues.
shadowgovt 1y ago
It did. The shift from the manufacturing sector to the service sector also mattered; manufacturing had a well-understood "union culture" with clear benefits to employees and service-sector work was generally considered "white-collar" and not in need of the same protections. ... but ask nurses whether they feel "white-collar."

I suspect that lack of strong antitrust contributed greatly to what we have now.

vouaobrasil 1y ago

That, and the government support of big business in many other ways as well.

paulddraper 1y ago

What trusts do you see? Apple?

reliabilityguy 1y ago
Google, Meta, MSFT, Apple, and many many others. My (perhaps moronic, but hey, I’m not an expert) metric is this: if a company X constantly buys other companies just for the sake of preventing competition —- it’s bad, and we risk to have a monopoly. Which, we almost do have with Google, Apple, and many others. I mean, it’s a fine line to thread: companies should be able to do M&As, but at the same time, they should not be allowed to become monopolies.
- adastra22 1y ago
  > Google, Meta, MSFT, Apple, and many many others. That's ... not how monopolies work.
  - reliabilityguy 1y ago
    Thank you for a very insightful comment. PS you do not have to have a monopoly to get no or minimal competition.
  - arrosenberg 1y ago
    Antitrust law covers a broad range of anti-competitive corporate behavior. Don't be pedantic.
carefulfungi 1y ago
If you want to read about this, "industry concentration rate" is a good search term. In general, studies show that US industry concentration (percentage of the market claimed by the largest entrants) is increasing (indicating a decrease in competition). Here's an example: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/a-note-on-industry-concentration-measurement-20230203.html https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/a-no.... And another: https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/voices.uchicago.edu/dist/7/1291/files/2024/06/kwon-et-al-2024-100-years-of-rising-corporate-concentration.pdf https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/voices.uchicago.edu/dist/7/129... This doesn't seem like a topic with an irrefutable answer, though, due to the complexity of measuring. Here's an interesting paper on that complexity and a contrary point of view: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w32762/w32762.pdf https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w32762/w327...
- paulddraper 1y ago
  I wouldn't disagree. But do have Instagram + TikTok + YouTube have anti-trust issues? There is a concentration of only three of them for short-form internet video, but none a monopoly, nor (AFAIK) trust issues.

shadowgovt 1y ago

It did. The shift from the manufacturing sector to the service sector also mattered; manufacturing had a well-understood "union culture" with clear benefits to employees and service-sector work was generally considered "white-collar" and not in need of the same protections. ... but ask nurses whether they feel "white-collar."