Juggling Dynamite

The most stable systems have strong counter-veiling forces to help maintain balance rather than allowing any one party or interest to weaken the whole with domination and control.

Last week Google received a record 4.3 billion-euro ($5 billion) antitrust fine from the European Union and was ordered to change the way it ties search and web browser apps on Android mobile devices.  Presently Android powers 85% of the world’s smartphones and Google captures 90% of the world’s internet search activity, according to Statcounter.  Google says it will appeal the ruling.

Over the past decade, big tech cos have enjoyed minimal regulatory oversight and massive lobby influence on policymakers while most smaller startups (that traditionally create the most new jobs in the economy) struggle to compete.

A new trust-busting era is overdue and is likely to keep chipping away at monopoly profits for some time.  See:  Google’s grip on search is secure, but getting pricer.

FTC commissioner Rohit Chopra agreed recently that the agency should have more vigorous enforcement against large companies:

“When it comes to small-time scammers, we really do lay down the hammer,” he said, giving the examples of bans on particular executives and even the shutting down of businesses. “I would like us to apply the law evenly regardless if it’s a small-time scammer or a big-time publicly traded corporation.”

Also see Happy Amazon Prime Day! Amazon is holding our cities hostage.

Grantham began his career as an economist with Royal Dutch Shell. This presentation is worthwhile.

Public lecture by Jeremy Grantham CBE on 11th April 2018 at a public lecture given in Drapers’ Hall, London. The lecture was titled “What investors need to know about technology and climate change: the race of our lives”.  Here is a direct video link.

Anat Admati’s presentation here is a good review of where we are 10 years after the last financial crisis.  The bottom line: in the words of JP Morgan CEO, Jamie Dimon “Financial crisis is something that happens every 5, 7 or 10 years.”  It’s now been 10, we should be expecting the next.  Alas, few are prepared.

At a June 20 2018 Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) Associates meeting, Anat Admati reflects on what has been learned about financial regulations, the relationship between corporations and the government, and the role that economists can play in the ten years since the Great Recession. Admati is the George G.C. Parker Professor of Finance and Economics at the Graduate School of Business and a senior fellow at SIEPR. Here is a direct video link.