16 Comments

My impression is big government loves big business. Monopolies in business are easier to control. Fewer high level people to corral. There is another word for a public-private partnership model of government and it starts with an F.

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I think one of the comments mentioned the 4 monopolists in their niche being in the Forbes 20. I think most in government and business see this as a positive and the proper end goal. Most entries mention squeezing the company to increase shareholder value and dividends. Most people (who have 401ks etc.) and not just wall street see this as a plus. I am not sure all of this is done with nefarious purpose but a law of unintended consequences of our capitalist and financialized society. I am not real clear the genie can be put back in the bottle. We have to change the culture and incentives somehow. I'm glad matt and a few in gov are trying. But it sometimes seems like the guy standing on the beach looking at the tsunami.

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I read at random from the website, it seems most are against monopolies. Didn`t notice any billionaire oligarchs giving their 2 cents worth, I guess they are too cheap for that.

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Some of these comments around highly consolidated market positioning make sense to me.

However, it’s unclear to me how the government is supposed to know if a corporate merger is going to go sideways. Also more broadly, I’m still unclear on how these regulations view shareholder rights which is a fun thing to scoff at until it’s your money that’s being pissed away. My reading of these regulations looks like less management accountability, not more.

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Apr 15, 2022·edited Apr 15, 2022

sounds like this guy hasn’t looked around hard enough: “When I was a kid, the internet was a wonderful place full of independent, distinct communities on any subject one could imagine, and most of my friends were online. Now they're dead in favor of a small number of corporate behemoths that ban people at the drop of a hat, and I've grown socially isolated and bored as a result; just haven't found an alternative to internet culture.”

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On this page I saw a count of 400 comments not 4,000. But perhaps this is something else? I was curious to see if the comment I posted ended up being visible.

https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FTC-2022-0003/comments

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