Subnostr

There's a whole body of conservative economic orthodoxy, #PublicChoiceTheory, that concerns itself with the motives of callow, easily corrupted regulators, legislators and civil servants, and how they might be tempted to distort markets.

But the same people who obsess over our fallible public institutions are convinced that private institutions will never yield to temptation, because the fear of competition keeps temptation at bay.

Cory Doctorow 2y ago

It's this belief that leads the right to embrace #monopolies as "efficient": "A company's dominance is evidence of its quality. Customers flock to it, and competitors fail to lure them away, therefore monopolies are the public's best friend."

But this only makes sense if you don't understand how monopolies can prevent competitors.

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Discussion

Cory Doctorow 2y ago

Think of #Uber, lighting $31b of its investors' cash on fire, losing 41 cents on every dollar it brought in, in a bid to drive out competitors and make public transit seem like a bad investment.

Cory Doctorow 2y ago

Think of #Uber, lighting $31b of its investors' cash on fire, losing 41 cents on every dollar it brought in, in a bid to drive out competitors and make public transit seem like a bad investment.