Juggling Dynamite

If you have not yet read Jonathan Taplin’s important book, now is the time to do so.

The backlash against concentrated corporate monopolies wielding indefensible regulatory and political power and influence is just getting started.  And it’s for good reason.  We have had the pendulum swing back and forth on this issue since antiquity.  Our most recent period of extreme concentration in a few oligarch companies and executives will be no different.

Taplin’s book is informative, disturbing and entertaining.  It will help you understand and anticipate some of the developments now unfolding.

All cycles end. Failing to plan for the down cycle is the fatal flaw in most financial plans.

Lakshman Achuthan of the Economic Cycle Research Institute discusses the current economic backdrop with Sara Eisen.  Here is a direct video link.

Economic cycles expert details slowdown investors may be missing from CNBC.

Last night 60 Minutes ran an important expose on the monopoly of Google.  We are headed for another trust busting period to dethrone monopolies and restore democratic, free market forces.  The reset periods have happened of necessity throughout human history.  Extreme concentrations of control and wealth are inherently unsustainable.

This past week the Federal Trade Commission was asked to investigate the data collected by Google on its Android operating system, which powers most of the world’s smartphones. It was a tiny blip in the news cycle but another sign of Washington’s and Europe’s growing concerns about the enormous, largely unchecked power accumulated by tech giants like Facebook, Amazon and Google over the last two decades. Of the three, Google, which is part of a holding company called Alphabet is the most powerful, intriguing, and omnipresent in our lives. This is how it came to be.  Here is a direct audio link

On a related note, see New ‘freedom from Facebook’ group wants to dismantle it.