RE: https://mastodon.social/@vicfroh/116495718961110153
#Monopolies are actually one of our biggest problems. The concentrated market power means we pay more for everything. And without competition, corporations amass such wealth they can essentially purchase government representation to do what they want, not what we need.
Modeline of California is #book #ISBN 9780764370281 and this podcast episode from Organized Money which is a podcast on #monopolies with the episode called Why Your Lamp Sucks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdChj5u8cSE
All about #lamps . Seems like you post lots on vintage stuff so here you go with some gems (book and podcast and a good chance you even have seen these lamps around).
Millones de dispositivos Android han sido comprados bajo una promesa: el sistema operativo sería abierto, los aficionados podrían crear su propio software y se podría instalar sin tener que pasar por una tienda propietaria.
Ahora, Google ha cerrado el código fuente y va a instaurar un sistema muy complicado para instalar aplicaciones de terceros, a menos que estos cedan datos personales sensibles a Google.
Visita KeepAndroidOpen.com para más información.
#keepAndroidOpen #android #monopolies
"In recent weeks, Amazon has changed how it pays out seller earnings and collects payments for its advertising services. The company then announced it would start charging merchants a 3.5% fuel surcharge to offset surging oil prices from the Iran war.
To some sellers, the moves represent another example of Amazon putting the squeeze on them.
“We’re running out of f---ing margin,” said Michael Patrón, who runs an eight-figure Amazon business and frequently criticizes the company’s policies on his X account. “I think that’s why it keeps getting more and more frustrating.”
Patrón and hundreds of large Amazon sellers are boycotting its advertising platform on Wednesday to protest the recent policy changes that are strangling their already stretched bottom lines.
The 24-hour advertising boycott is being organized by Million Dollar Sellers, a community of more than 700 members that collectively generate about $14 billion in revenue.
“Sellers have complained for years, but this feels different,” MDS co-founder Eugene Khayman said in a post on X about the boycott. “The reason is simple: this is no longer just about irritation. It is about cash extraction.”"
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/15/amazon-sellers-boycott-ads-payment-changes.html
Why the U.S. Stopped Breaking #Monopolies
NO SHIT SHERLOCK!!!
In all seriousness, this is a landmark ruling.
“The jury deliberated for four days before deciding that the company operated as a monopoly that broke antitrust laws.”
“An exact punishment has yet to be meted out, but the consequences could range from heavy monetary damages to possibly breaking up Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It’s also likely that Live Nation will appeal the verdict, meaning the case could continue for several more years.”
Ticketmaster-owner Live Nation has operated as a monopoly, jury finds
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyddyp19yyo
"In 2023, the city of Evanston, Illinois raised its ambulance fee from $1500 to $2000, with a $15 mileage charge tacked on. Like many municipalities, city officials and taxpayers have gotten used to ever-increasing prices for basic services, all bucketed under the “cost of living” crisis we’re dealing with. In fact, yesterday the Michigan University consumer sentiment indicator hit the worst reading it has ever recorded, going all the way back to 1961. The endless increases in prices for all sorts of random necessities is a key reason.
But these cost hikes don’t just ‘happen,’ as if it’s some sort of natural event. Markets are a function of law. There are companies and dealers and financiers behind every industry, so we can actually try to understand why they are happening. In this case, Evanston chalked up the hike to, among other things, the increasing of “cost of equipment and vehicles used for emergency responses.” The ambulance market, once a decentralized set of family owned firms, has been rolled up into a consolidated industry run by private equity. And the price hikes followed.
This story isn’t unusual. In early 2025, BIG traced a roll-up of fire trucks and fire apparatus, leading to a crisis in that sector. It turns out that something similar seems to have happened here, with some of the same players."
#USA #Emergency #Ambluances #Monopolies #Rentism #PrivateEquities
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