JHC man, you do such important work. I'm neither educated nor informed enough to give anything close to an informed opinion other than that. But...ah say BUT... I'm on my vaycay and I just saw something that kind of stunned me.
I'm up in Canada, and I spent the day wandering around a city as old (older) than NYC my hometown. It's called Quebec City. Here's the thing:
I'm right now in the heart of the downtown core. I looked, and there's not a single chain restaurant. Y'know, those mall trough places? Outback? Kelsey's? Jack Astors? All those dozens and dozens of same fries, different napkin kind of joints who all buy their portion controlled stuff from Sayco or whoever? No TGIF... not a single one of those 'casual dining' crap houses that repeat their winning formula in every town or city big enough to support a Wal-Mart.
Not. One.
OK, there were two McD's; but that's like saying 'oh, but there were two people w/ dandruff, right? No Baskin Robbins, nor Carvel....
My point... somehow this unbelievably charming, friendly super clean city kept Wall Street shitboxes out. IDK how... (don't speak French and c'mon, I'm on vaycay...) but holy Toledo... it's like being in the Bronx in 1965. Oh... and it's soooo much cheaper. I just dropped 127 all in for steak dinner (as good as a filet mignon that would make PJ Clarke cry) for TWO. Including booze, tip etc. ALL IN
In CAD dollars (IOW, about USD $100) ... That same menu at an Outback would have been 150 or more CAD (b4 tip)...
These Wall St hedge funds co's (or whatever label those vampire squids have in the hospitality industry)... take anywhere from 30-40% of the tab.
Go get em Matt. Life w/o these vampires can be sweet.
If you listen to the recordings that the FBI made in Operation Varsity Blues, what struck me was how both the parents and William Singer, speaking privately to one another on what they thought was an unmonitored telephone line, created these elaborate justifications for their actions, even though everyone involved, the speaker and the listener, knew that the justifications were all bullshit.
Thank you for explaining the details of laws regulating mergers in an uncomplicated way. It never works to let people or corporations self-regulate and that's almost what we have with lawyers running the government which passes the laws to regulate the lawyers. If the government was packed with plumbers instead of lawyers every room in the house would require two sinks and two toilets. Lawyers are not particularly bad people but they are no more honest than anyone else and need supervision. Shining a light on the inner workings of bar associations, judges and mergers helps voters to supervise democracy at least.
Matt Stoller is the John Sanborn Phillips of our time, writes David Warsh at the blog, economicprincipals.org. With applause for Stoller, Warsh looks at the Microsoft case for hints of what's to come for Amazon. Warsh's verdict? "Bezos is traveling to the edge of space on Tuesday, but Amazon is bound for break-up" adding, "Public sentiment that government should write new rules for the enterprise economy, comparable to those of 1892 and 1914, is growing... [and] rules beyond the Sherman and Clayton Acts are required."
On the dental implants, this will give you an idea. It’s a business breakdown podcast about Invisalign (not implants but related) and they are just getting started with their de tail products, and use patent suits and aggressive marketing tactics to work towards a monopoly.
Where else could they find profits comparable to previous mergers that eviscerated work forces and capability while raising prices?
An industry in final stages of monopoly shake down is ski resorts. Most tickets are well North of 100usd daily. Next nudge is requiring prior reservation with non-refundable pre purchase of ticket good for reserved day only. No more following a blizzard across Nevada to hit fresh powder in the Wasatch or Rockies. Season pass holders must also reserve their days but they do get priority on ad hoc requests for 1, or more, days. Vail of tears I fear.
Welcome to the planned and tracked world outlined in a manifesto and updated by a self proclaimed man of faith. Both in Paris, hmmmmm. jammin'
I am a PI who has worked in civil litigation for 4 decades. I started about the same time plaintiff attorneys were allowed to advertise. Most people can't remember the days when you didn't see gaudy plaintiff attorney ads. I do. There was also a time when frivolous lawsuits would be derisively tossed out of court by judges w/ integrity. That seldom occurs now. So, horseshit lawsuits are filed, almost always settled, and sometimes tried. But to defend a personal injury lawsuit costs money, so the client has to weigh paying money even though they know it's bogus. Who wins? Attorneys on both sides. The plaintiff attorney gets his contingency $'s. The defense attorney gets their billable hours $'s. Plaintiff attorneys are the sales force, bringing in the cases, defense attorneys are workers bees.
I'd like to echo concern for the sleep aid device industry, specifically about the impact this is having on professional drivers. We must maintain and carry when working a medical certificate (renewable every two years) that demonstrates our fitness to drive.
Within the last decade or so, certain drivers (usually ones with thick necks or weight problems) have been pressured to take sleep tests. Their Med Certs have been put on three-month status until they take the tests, so these are not optional. After the testing, *even with only "mild" apnea discovered in the test*, the drivers were then handed a device they had to use *whether or not that device allowed them to actually sleep.*
That's the primary concern I've heard; not everyone sleeps well with a mask plastered over their face. (Thus, as I pointed out to my MP, "the cure could be worse than the disease.")
Even worse, these devices have a chip embedded in them which tracks usage and then transmits usage data to the issuer. If you don't (or even can't) sleep with these devices at least 70% of the time you are scheduled to sleep, you are diagnosed with an "untreated condition", which could jepordize your Commercial Drivers License status. There doesn't seem to be an alternative; once diagnosed, even with apnea so mild it poses no threat to safety, drivers are railroaded into treatment that doesn't work for them.
With all the shenanigans around cartels you discuss here, I would be far from surprised if medical professionals are not given certain "incentives" for such invasive and persistent needling of drivers.
Matt: eyeglasses manufacturing and retail. Prices are ludicrous. The jump in cost from single lens to bifocal/progressive is a total gouge if ever I saw one. Cost of frames seems completely unrelated to their likely design/manufacturing cost.
Not about dental implant monopolies per se, but just a piece of advice my previous dentist have be shortly before I turned 26 and lost my dental insurance- you can get just about any dental procedure done at a much lower cost by (totally competent) students at dental schools. Here's a list of schools in the US offering dental implants:
I don't think the CPAP market is fertile ground for anti-monopoly concerns. I got a prescription for a CPAP machine 20 years ago. I can buy one any time I want at cpap.com by sending in a copy of my 20-year old prescription. Some are quite affordable. Getting my health insurance to pay for it is another matter, but that's a different monopoly.
Hi Matt, what are your thoughts on the DOJ shutting down the Aon and WTW merger? I thought it was pretty impressive. The EU did their usual thing and made a few meaningless demands, spinning off the WTW Re business to AJG, so it looks like they are doing something when they are actually just annoying all involved. The DOJ, which would have rubber stamped this merger with no changes a few years ago, sues them for antitrust and when it became clear that Garland was not looking for a settlement and would go the distance, they dropped the merger. A tactic acknowledgement on Aon's part that this was a clear violation of antitrust law as they have to pay WTW a $1 billion fee for not completing the merger... which they probably would not have done if they thought they had a chance in court.
Have you investigated MindGeek? They're the largest porn company worldwide and have made heavy acquisitions in the past decades. They're based in Canada with a complex corporate structure spread out globally (skirting tax and regulation), and I assume most revenues come from the US.
I'd think since it's in such a taboo industry, the company hasn't received the tax focus, regulation, or anti-monopoly attention it deserves.
JHC man, you do such important work. I'm neither educated nor informed enough to give anything close to an informed opinion other than that. But...ah say BUT... I'm on my vaycay and I just saw something that kind of stunned me.
I'm up in Canada, and I spent the day wandering around a city as old (older) than NYC my hometown. It's called Quebec City. Here's the thing:
I'm right now in the heart of the downtown core. I looked, and there's not a single chain restaurant. Y'know, those mall trough places? Outback? Kelsey's? Jack Astors? All those dozens and dozens of same fries, different napkin kind of joints who all buy their portion controlled stuff from Sayco or whoever? No TGIF... not a single one of those 'casual dining' crap houses that repeat their winning formula in every town or city big enough to support a Wal-Mart.
Not. One.
OK, there were two McD's; but that's like saying 'oh, but there were two people w/ dandruff, right? No Baskin Robbins, nor Carvel....
My point... somehow this unbelievably charming, friendly super clean city kept Wall Street shitboxes out. IDK how... (don't speak French and c'mon, I'm on vaycay...) but holy Toledo... it's like being in the Bronx in 1965. Oh... and it's soooo much cheaper. I just dropped 127 all in for steak dinner (as good as a filet mignon that would make PJ Clarke cry) for TWO. Including booze, tip etc. ALL IN
In CAD dollars (IOW, about USD $100) ... That same menu at an Outback would have been 150 or more CAD (b4 tip)...
These Wall St hedge funds co's (or whatever label those vampire squids have in the hospitality industry)... take anywhere from 30-40% of the tab.
Go get em Matt. Life w/o these vampires can be sweet.
I learned so much from this issue. Thank you.
It's not limited to anti-trust.
If you listen to the recordings that the FBI made in Operation Varsity Blues, what struck me was how both the parents and William Singer, speaking privately to one another on what they thought was an unmonitored telephone line, created these elaborate justifications for their actions, even though everyone involved, the speaker and the listener, knew that the justifications were all bullshit.
Thank you for explaining the details of laws regulating mergers in an uncomplicated way. It never works to let people or corporations self-regulate and that's almost what we have with lawyers running the government which passes the laws to regulate the lawyers. If the government was packed with plumbers instead of lawyers every room in the house would require two sinks and two toilets. Lawyers are not particularly bad people but they are no more honest than anyone else and need supervision. Shining a light on the inner workings of bar associations, judges and mergers helps voters to supervise democracy at least.
Matt Stoller is the John Sanborn Phillips of our time, writes David Warsh at the blog, economicprincipals.org. With applause for Stoller, Warsh looks at the Microsoft case for hints of what's to come for Amazon. Warsh's verdict? "Bezos is traveling to the edge of space on Tuesday, but Amazon is bound for break-up" adding, "Public sentiment that government should write new rules for the enterprise economy, comparable to those of 1892 and 1914, is growing... [and] rules beyond the Sherman and Clayton Acts are required."
On the dental implants, this will give you an idea. It’s a business breakdown podcast about Invisalign (not implants but related) and they are just getting started with their de tail products, and use patent suits and aggressive marketing tactics to work towards a monopoly.
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/business-breakdowns/id1559120677?i=1000523893081
Where else could they find profits comparable to previous mergers that eviscerated work forces and capability while raising prices?
An industry in final stages of monopoly shake down is ski resorts. Most tickets are well North of 100usd daily. Next nudge is requiring prior reservation with non-refundable pre purchase of ticket good for reserved day only. No more following a blizzard across Nevada to hit fresh powder in the Wasatch or Rockies. Season pass holders must also reserve their days but they do get priority on ad hoc requests for 1, or more, days. Vail of tears I fear.
Welcome to the planned and tracked world outlined in a manifesto and updated by a self proclaimed man of faith. Both in Paris, hmmmmm. jammin'
I am a PI who has worked in civil litigation for 4 decades. I started about the same time plaintiff attorneys were allowed to advertise. Most people can't remember the days when you didn't see gaudy plaintiff attorney ads. I do. There was also a time when frivolous lawsuits would be derisively tossed out of court by judges w/ integrity. That seldom occurs now. So, horseshit lawsuits are filed, almost always settled, and sometimes tried. But to defend a personal injury lawsuit costs money, so the client has to weigh paying money even though they know it's bogus. Who wins? Attorneys on both sides. The plaintiff attorney gets his contingency $'s. The defense attorney gets their billable hours $'s. Plaintiff attorneys are the sales force, bringing in the cases, defense attorneys are workers bees.
Hey, Matt,
I'd like to echo concern for the sleep aid device industry, specifically about the impact this is having on professional drivers. We must maintain and carry when working a medical certificate (renewable every two years) that demonstrates our fitness to drive.
Within the last decade or so, certain drivers (usually ones with thick necks or weight problems) have been pressured to take sleep tests. Their Med Certs have been put on three-month status until they take the tests, so these are not optional. After the testing, *even with only "mild" apnea discovered in the test*, the drivers were then handed a device they had to use *whether or not that device allowed them to actually sleep.*
That's the primary concern I've heard; not everyone sleeps well with a mask plastered over their face. (Thus, as I pointed out to my MP, "the cure could be worse than the disease.")
Even worse, these devices have a chip embedded in them which tracks usage and then transmits usage data to the issuer. If you don't (or even can't) sleep with these devices at least 70% of the time you are scheduled to sleep, you are diagnosed with an "untreated condition", which could jepordize your Commercial Drivers License status. There doesn't seem to be an alternative; once diagnosed, even with apnea so mild it poses no threat to safety, drivers are railroaded into treatment that doesn't work for them.
With all the shenanigans around cartels you discuss here, I would be far from surprised if medical professionals are not given certain "incentives" for such invasive and persistent needling of drivers.
Matt: eyeglasses manufacturing and retail. Prices are ludicrous. The jump in cost from single lens to bifocal/progressive is a total gouge if ever I saw one. Cost of frames seems completely unrelated to their likely design/manufacturing cost.
Not about dental implant monopolies per se, but just a piece of advice my previous dentist have be shortly before I turned 26 and lost my dental insurance- you can get just about any dental procedure done at a much lower cost by (totally competent) students at dental schools. Here's a list of schools in the US offering dental implants:
https://www.dentalimplantcostguide.com/complete-list-of-schools/
Brava
I don't think the CPAP market is fertile ground for anti-monopoly concerns. I got a prescription for a CPAP machine 20 years ago. I can buy one any time I want at cpap.com by sending in a copy of my 20-year old prescription. Some are quite affordable. Getting my health insurance to pay for it is another matter, but that's a different monopoly.
Hi Matt, what are your thoughts on the DOJ shutting down the Aon and WTW merger? I thought it was pretty impressive. The EU did their usual thing and made a few meaningless demands, spinning off the WTW Re business to AJG, so it looks like they are doing something when they are actually just annoying all involved. The DOJ, which would have rubber stamped this merger with no changes a few years ago, sues them for antitrust and when it became clear that Garland was not looking for a settlement and would go the distance, they dropped the merger. A tactic acknowledgement on Aon's part that this was a clear violation of antitrust law as they have to pay WTW a $1 billion fee for not completing the merger... which they probably would not have done if they thought they had a chance in court.
yo
Have you investigated MindGeek? They're the largest porn company worldwide and have made heavy acquisitions in the past decades. They're based in Canada with a complex corporate structure spread out globally (skirting tax and regulation), and I assume most revenues come from the US.
I'd think since it's in such a taboo industry, the company hasn't received the tax focus, regulation, or anti-monopoly attention it deserves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MindGeek