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Economic Termites: Monopolies not noticeable enough for most of us

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351–360 of 457 posts

Re: Economic Termites: Monopolies not noticeable enough for most of us

#351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I sure wish they did more. My dang state passed Prop 22: https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_22,_App-Based... >App-Based Drivers as Contractors and Labor Policies Initiative (2020) Sad part is it wasn't even close. Guess capitalism still can buy votes, even ones that work against your best interests as a working class.

Nobody ever made anyone become an Uber driver.

Re: Economic Termites: Monopolies not noticeable enough for most of us

#352
post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think you could (almost) build a consistent picture: Economic output is doing well, a lot of people are working, but the rich are taking all the gains and the workers are just barely surviving. You figured it out. Maybe replace "the rich" with "those with capital and market power" but that's mostly a distinction without a difference.

Could you now address the objection? If that's the case, who's buying all the output?

Those to whom the returns on capital are accruing.

Again none of this stuff is super groundbreaking. Shantytown hills overlooking mansions surrounded by high walls and barbed wire is kind of a global norm.

As America edges closer it only feels unfamiliar to those of us that have become accustomed to something different.

Re: Economic Termites: Monopolies not noticeable enough for most of us

#353
post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't believe that either the Republicans or the Democrats are defending women, no. They're both patriarchal institutions that are misogynistic in different ways. > They do not, nor has anyone, "demanded everything that's been set up for women now has to include any male who says he's a woman". Sorry but you have been misinformed, this is the currently the actual progressive position. And it has led to horrifying o…

>both sides bad Yeah, but one is way worse. >law about criminals You said "everything". "Everything" is what I'm challenging. No serious effort is made to force women to make any concessions, except by the party that is restricting their medical autonomy. And I guess prisoners? You've certainly got me there, but I don't think I've ever stated a good word about the correctional system. What you link is a specific law…

> What you link is a specific law covering a pretty specific category of people, ones already in jail. Not exactly "demanding everything women have be man's"...

Why do you think that law was passed in the first place? It's because the current progressive position is that any male who says he's a woman should be allowed to access any service or space that was created solely for women.

This isn't just limited to prisons. Another recent instance: Title IX is being redefined in this way, which according to the UN will discriminate against and disadvantage women and girls in educational settings: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/04/united-state...

> By saying the definitions are flexible I'm somehow reinforcing rigorous gender role stereotypes?

Yes. If you remove the female body from the definition of woman, what else remains besides sexist stereotypes? When a male says he identifies as a woman, what exactly is he identifying with? You can't identify with a body you don't have, so what could he actually be identifying with, if not these stereotypes?

Re: Economic Termites: Monopolies not noticeable enough for most of us

#354
post #22

>Today, Verisign is the single most profitable company in the stock market, a great example of an economic termite This is just blatantly false. VeriSign is in fact the 1215th most profitable company in the stock market [1]. By operating margin, it's 155th [2]. I find it hard to give an article much credit when I can't even get past the introduction without having to comb through citationless false/misleading stateme…

Verisign has a profit of around $1B with around 1k employees. Ingersoll Rand has around 18k employees. SBI holdings has around 19k. Beiersdorf has around 21k. I don't know what the author was thinking or why it was phrased that way, but Verisign seems vastly more profitable per employee than others on the list. Also, I have no idea why they even need ~1k employees.

Tbf, this is page 13 of the list. If you go to the first page, Saudi Aramco made $230B with 73k employees according to their website. This is still ~3x as much profits/employee as VeriSign. FAANGs are pretty comparable as well. It's definitely a very profitable company _per employee_, but I fail to find a metric where Verisign can be described as the most profitable public company

Re: Economic Termites: Monopolies not noticeable enough for most of us

#355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rural existence is already subsidized by urban dwellers, I dunno what more they expect

Please elaborate further on what you mean by the phrasing of "Rural existence is already subsidized...." I'm uncertain if I missed the sarcasm or perhaps more likely my lack of comprehension.

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/why-rural-america-needs-c...

It’s not sarcasm, it’s reality

Re: Economic Termites: Monopolies not noticeable enough for most of us

#356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like there was never a business model there then. Well, in a first world country anyway.

For my area in Los Angeles, it wasn't viable because everyone (or someone you know) has a car. a friend ride is much cheaper than an Uber. I only download the Uber app when I need to get to the airport and am leaving for weeks at a time. Any other time, I take myself, ask a friend, or even consider what remnants we have of public transportation (e.g. instead of taking a horribly expensive uber in/out of LAX, take a s…

A lot of us won’t ask friends for rides because it’s kind of selfish, I’ll do an uber/lyft every time unless my buddy is right there saying he’s heading that way.

Re: Economic Termites: Monopolies not noticeable enough for most of us

#357
post #307

Four. That's the magic number. There have to be four competitors of significant size before prices go down. There are both EU and US studies substantiating this. It's been seen in cellular phone networks, ISPs, drugstores, and banks. Drop below the threshold of four, and the magic happens. Prices go up, margins go up, and consumers lose. Four should be the basis of antitrust policy. Less than four, and there are two…

How then do you explain the Silicon Valley wage price fixing scandal? There were more than four players there.

It’s a statistic, not an absolute, obviously 4 is probably the minimum. It’s a rule of thumb and there to say “2 or 3 probably isn’t enough, it takes at least 4 AND government oversight” otherwise, uh, capitalism finds a way [to cheat]

Re: Economic Termites: Monopolies not noticeable enough for most of us

#358

Four. That's the magic number. There have to be four competitors of significant size before prices go down. There are both EU and US studies substantiating this. It's been seen in cellular phone networks, ISPs, drugstores, and banks. Drop below the threshold of four, and the magic happens. Prices go up, margins go up, and consumers lose. Four should be the basis of antitrust policy. Less than four, and there are two…

How many more humans would be needed to support 4 of every company type?

Tell me one industry that couldn’t be chopped up into 4 or more corporations? I think you will be hard pressed to come up with one.

Re: Economic Termites: Monopolies not noticeable enough for most of us

#359

I have a theory that one of the core problems is that American businesses just expect to make too much money. Everyone seems to be aiming for 30% gross margin or more, and then working to get monopoly power or regulatory capture in order to achieve that. When I work with businesses in China they sort of expect cutthroat competition and I'm sure they're not seeing 30% margins. Low a behold stuff is a lot cheaper there…

This is one reason 2/3 of my investments are in steady growth (I hope) realty. I don’t trust the markets more than 1/3 of my investments.

Re: Economic Termites: Monopolies not noticeable enough for most of us

#360
post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For my area in Los Angeles, it wasn't viable because everyone (or someone you know) has a car. a friend ride is much cheaper than an Uber. I only download the Uber app when I need to get to the airport and am leaving for weeks at a time. Any other time, I take myself, ask a friend, or even consider what remnants we have of public transportation (e.g. instead of taking a horribly expensive uber in/out of LAX, take a s…

That seems like a lot of effort, planning, and time to save $20.

Try $150. Trying to Uber out of LAX is highway robbery and they know that. Going from my house to LAX is anywhere from $60-100. Going the other way is anywhere from $100-300, and only gets worse on holidays.

Shuttle to anywhere else is $10 and prices become normal again. Best advice I ever got. That and trying to use other airports where possible.

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