Airlines Prioritize Credit Card Sales Over Safety
How about re-regulating the airlines? Maybe try that? Or we could stick to running an air travel system based on how best to sell credit cards because that makes sense.
Double Standards: AI Errors vs Corporate Document Shredding
There's a massive amount of harumphing when some random lawyer uses AI and hallucinates a citation, but when Amazon's chief lawyer and Jeff Bezos knowingly destroying documents and get sanctioned by a job, yawn.
When Private Rail Was Praised Over Government Incompetence
I'm so old I remember when people validated the 'private sector' because the government can't do rail.
Airline Collapse and Wild Prices Demand Travel Regulation
As other airlines die and ticket pricing goes haywire we need to start the conversation about re-regulating air travel.
JetBlue‑Spirit Merger Feels Like Two Drunks Balancing.
“Putting together JetBlue and Spirit was a bit like having two drunks holding each other up.” https://t.co/fu8co84Shu
Airlines Celebrate the Demise of Spirit Airlines
And if you were one of those airlines you are quite happy Spirit is dead.
CEO Calls Illegal Merger, Blames Greedy Shareholders
It wasn’t a merger to save the airline, Spirir’s CEO said publicly it was illegal. Shareholders could have taken the Frontier deal but got greedy. It’s amazing how many people are showing they aren’t credible.
Airline Bankrupt
These clowns are acting like Spirit is the first airline bankruptcy. There have been 200+ since deregulation. What we need here is some good old fashion public regulation. And that's been obvious. I wrote it in 2024 as well.
The Downfall of Spirit Airlines Explained
Who killed Spirit Airlines? Here's everything you need to know about what happened and why. https://t.co/fu8co84Shu
Big Airlines Blamed for Spirit’s Downfall Amid Price Wars
Oh wow well you look at that, the big airlines had Spirit Airlines killed. Weird. It couldn't have to do with Spirit forcing them to lower prices on competitive routes. Nah. https://t.co/Qb6MlBZ8vQ https://t.co/irqBA4f9FE
Spirit CEO Calls JetBlue Deal Illegal Amid
No one bashing the Biden antitrust enforcers can explain why Spirit's CEO was publicly on TV saying the JetBlue acquisition was illegal. https://t.co/JvYWAI0xho
Regulation Cut Prices Faster, Deregulation Worsened Flights
False. Prices dropped far more quickly in the regulated era than in the period of deregulation. And flight options are far worse today except from a few big cities. Same bad dynamics across all transportation sectors.
Airline Crisis Signals Need for Re‑regulation
Everyone but United and Delta is in varying degrees of trouble. JetBlue is on the verge of going under. There have been 240 airline bankruptcies since deregulation. If we want an airline system we need to regulate it.
Deregulation, Not Merger Block, Fueled Airline Predation
Blocking the merger wasn’t a mistake. Illegal mergers are illegal. The mistake was deregulation and lawless mergers from the 2007-2016 that enabled predatory attacks on low fare airlines.
Transportation Priorities Driven by Credit Card Sales
Why are we organizing our transportation system around who can more effectively sell credit cards?
Antitrust Block Threatens Spirit, Triggers Low‑Fare Airline Crisis
Just a lie from Wall Street. The only difference is that JetBlue-Spirit would be liquidating. The entire low fare and medium size airline sector is in crisis. Spirit is just the canary.
Google's AI Headline Rewrite Raises Deception and Authorship Concerns
Google is testing a feature to have its AI rewrite news headlines. This stuff is verging on deception. Can Google claim someone wrote something they didn't write? https://t.co/YV7wf8kcRK
California Bill Demands Transparency From Private Equity Funds
This is good California legislation. It would force PE funds to disclose write-downs, actual performance statistics, and the use of ponzi style continuation funds. https://t.co/DNO3TCVSvD
States Push Bills to Ban Private‑equity Law Firm Ownership
"In California and Illinois, legislators in April advanced bills that would" block private equity owning law firms. "In Colorado, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a similar bill last week, which on Wd passed the House Judiciary Committee." https://t.co/3cRQdmVLre
Cory Booker's CLEAN Act Needed to Halt Music Mergers
Another day, another giant merger, this one in the music industry. Cory Booker's CLEAN Mergers Act that would undo these monstrosities is more important than ever. https://t.co/mwd0YFJNEl
Zuckerberg Threatens to Pull Meta Apps From New Mexico
Mark Zuckerberg says he'll pull his apps out of New Mexico if the state forces Meta to make them less addictive. https://t.co/Ykb2lWcYJC
AI: Monopolies, Money Manipulation, and Boring Reality
The truth is that AI is a boring story of monopolization, financial manipulation, and extraction, clothed in techno-optimistic fraud. Obviously AI matters, it just matters in a boring way.
Non‑competes, Not AI, Are Shrinking Labor’s Income Share
There's no evidence for broad AI labor displacement, but there's plenty of evidence for the labor share of income dropping dramatically due to noncompetes and employer consolidation. Gee I wonder why elites want to talk about AI's threat to jobs....
Climate Change Threats Outweigh AI Job‑Displacement Hype
Climate change is far more of a threat than AI displacement of jobs, it’s just not cool to talk about anymore. AI displacement of jobs is a marketing pitch, climate change is actually real.
Consumer Spending Rises, Driven Solely by Necessities
Really ugly consumer spending number, with nearly all of the increase going to gasoline, health care, and financial services - aka necessities. https://t.co/c769eaCaLK https://t.co/0fOen66jNp
DOJ, FTC File Zero Contested Mergers in Q1 2026
"Neither the DOJ nor the FTC filed any contested merger complaints in the first quarter of 2026. Currently, the agencies have only one active merger challenge pending (Henkel/Liquid Nails)." https://t.co/400DgJFpau
Bills Are Solid; Contract‑for‑America Comparison Misses the Mark
The bills are generally good but the Contract for America analogy doesn’t work. It’s a list of useful things, not an agenda.
Progressives Propose Ban on Personalized Surveillance Pricing
1. Some useful moderate legislative proposals coming out from the progressive caucus around corporate power. I'll highlight a few of them. The first is one from @GregCasar to ban personalized surveillance pricing. That's a big deal. https://t.co/42Gsa62juv
Barney Frank Issued Zero Subpoenas During Dodd‑Frank Era
From 2007-2011, during the financial crisis and the writing of Dodd-Frank, Banking Chairman Barney Frank didn't issue a *single subpoena.* He’s not a serious person and his silly book won’t be serious either.
Author Fills Book’s Corporate Power Gap With Empty Talk
Dunkelman’s book had absolutely zero discussion of corporate power. He’s trying to discuss it now because he actually has nothing to say.
Cities Sue Over Firetruck Monopoly, Story Strikes Nerve
There are so many cities and towns upset with the firetruck monopoly that are now suing. I'm surprised BIG's story did so well, but this one touched a nerve. https://t.co/32VFty2M4X
Chinese Predatory Policies Trouble More Than Just the U.S.
Oh well wait will you look at this? It's not just the U.S. that has issues with Chinese predatory policy. https://t.co/mi5QZ0ghh9
American AI Firms Already Losing; Chip Hype Misguided
American AI firms have already lost, it's simply foolish to believe the hype about chips and scale.
Chevron Drives California’s $1‑2 Higher Gas Prices
Chevron is why gas in California is $1-2 more per gallon than in the rest of America.
Movie Buzz Now Drives Marketing Beyond Opening Weekend
Fascinating good news. People like movies and talk about them, and that's beginning to change marketing so it's not all about the opening weekend. https://t.co/opCwaLv7IT
Spirit CEO Gets $3.8M Bonus Pre‑bankruptcy, Exposing Industry Greed
Spirit Airlines gave its CEO a $3.8 million bonus a week before its last bankruptcy. The whole industry is poorly regulated and run by short-sighted greedheads. https://t.co/jseNO8DJHY
Deregulation, Not Airlines, Created Industry's Fragility
Airlines were fine before deregulation. It's bad regulation that made it a financially fragile crappy industry. And the JetBlue-Spirit combo would have liquidated a year ago.
Trump's Spirit Stake Highlights Endless Airline Bailouts
Trump is likely to take a stake in Spirit, another bailout for an industry that keeps getting bailouts. Just re-regulate the airlines so it's a profitable and reasonable industry instead of a play for market power and subsidies. https://t.co/tiEtOKouPz
Congress Moves to Make AI Core of U.S. Foreign Policy
Foreign Affairs committee is going to vote for a bill to dedicate U.S. foreign policy to promoting AI. In case you were worried that someone might object on behalf of normal people, Dem ranking Greg Meeks is strongly for it.
Noncompetes and Concentration Cause One‑Third Wage‑Growth Slowdown
A third of the post-1980 slowdown in wage growth is a result of noncompetes and more employer concentration. https://t.co/CjDO9G0rC1
Zaslav's Sadness Over Warner Sale Feels Contrived
Why is David Zaslav leaking that he's so sad he's selling Warner? A weird narrative to be putting out.
Trump Warns Airline Consolidation Breeds Laziness, Opposes United‑American Merger
"It makes them lazy." Trump comes against a possible United Airlines-American Air merger. Says Spirit should be acquired by someone, the defense base is too consolidated. https://t.co/HEddc2ZFLN
Paramount‑Warner Merger Threatens Hollywood; Artists Sound Alarm
I like @RaheemKassam, but there's an obvious market power problem with Paramount buying Warner, which is why 4000+ artists and most of Hollywood opposes it. Netflix is a bit player in the dispute now. The populist right needs to see beyond...
UnitedHealth's Profit Strategy: Deny Patients Needed Medication
UnitedHealth just told Wall Street their plan for more profits is to deny more medicine to people. https://t.co/JYysdCAPBw
Challenging Traditional Economic Policies and Assumptions
1. Having the government set airline prices was good. 2. Federal Reserve policy should be set by a Congressional committee. 3. Cost/benefit analysis of regulations is a scam. 4. A balanced Federal budget isn't a good idea when we have a trade...
Free Speech Needs Federal Anti‑SLAPP to Curb Corporate Silencing
Anyone who actually cares about free speech would support a Federal anti-SLAPP law to stop corporations and the superrich from abusing defamation law to silence critics.
California Senate Poised to Vote on Big‑tech Antitrust Bill
There's a bill right now in the California state Senate to strengthen antitrust against big tech that would make this conduct illegal. It's SB 1074. It'll be voted on in a few hours, with some Dems wavering because of the...
Minsky Predicted Human-Level AI Within a Decade
"In from three to eight years we will have a machine with the general intelligence of an average human being. I mean a machine that will be able to read Shakespeare, grease a car, play office politics, tell a joke,...
Free Cash Flow Reveals Stock Valuation Truths
The Odd Lots episode on stock market valuations and free cash flow was one of those ‘aha’ moments. @TheStalwart @tracyalloway are the best there is in the political economy podcast game. https://t.co/3kX71fxfbF
Top Democrats Seek Guidance From Lina Khan
Good piece on Lina Khan’s influence. Most top Dems are calling and asking for advice. https://t.co/ilFCyFldpA