Intel's Revival Would Boost Biden, Trump, Industrial Policy
If Intel turns around it will be an incredible success story for Biden/Trump and industrial policy. https://t.co/8hNrsePZVO
Stars Stay Silent on Ticketmaster After Pearl Jam Fallout
I tweeted earlier that Taylor Swift hasn’t said anything on Ticketmaster. She criticized an outside entity in 2022, but didn’t mention the company by name. It’s telling big stars don’t talk about the industry, and haven’t since Pearl Jam got wrecked...
Mike Davis' Choice Sparks Allegations of Corrupt Merger Drop
So a Mike Davis picked candidate. Dropping this merger challenge was gross and corrupt. https://t.co/d85hG8s3hx
Ticketmaster Victory Attributed to Specific Leaders, Slater Shifted Course
Let me be clear about the Ticketmaster case. This win was a result of @JKBustertruster, @dohamekki, and the Biden political leaders, then state AGs. Once Gail Slater took over, the case litigation went off track. Slater also was eager to...
Deregulation Driving Airline Failures, Not FTC Action
First, it’s not the FTC who challenged the deal. Second, Spirit was asked specifically if they were in trouble by the judge. They said no. Third, JetBlue is going under as well because of its high debt load. Deregulation needs to...
Sysco‑Restaurant Depot Merger Threatens Local Restaurant Margins
Fabulous article by @biketrouble on the $29 billion Sysco-Restaurant Depot merger and its impact on local restaurants. https://t.co/qGv4I6Q1bN
Hollywood Merger Advocacy Is Legal, Not Just Politics
These Paramount advocates want to portray Hollywood advocacy around mergers as standard frivolous politics. They don’t get it’s a legal matter. Letters from industry stakeholders absolutely matter in antitrust cases.
Nvidia CEO Turns Bully When Pressed on Tough Issues
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's interview with @dwarkesh_sp is extraordinary and embarrassing. When he actually faces tough questions, Huang becomes a dishonest angry bully. Just a pathetic illustration of how bad our corporate leadership class is. https://t.co/HcfGQhBuAd
Antitrust Chief Assefi, a Ticketmaster Settlement Loser
It's worth noting that acting Antitrust chief Omeed Assefi, who settled the Ticketmaster case on orders of his higher-ups, is a loser. https://t.co/dN91Pfnkfp
We Beat Ticketmaster and Its Veteran Attorney
Not a good headline if you're Ticketmaster's main attorney Dan Wall. Wall came out of retirement to represent Ticketmaster. So not only did we defeat Ticketmaster, we defeated the spirit of evil boomers. https://t.co/Ahvh1iPEiB
AELP Backed Ticketmaster Antitrust Lawsuit Since 2020
It's been a long time coming. AELP encouraged a Ticketmaster antitrust suit in 2020 in our Courage to Learn agenda for Biden. We were part of the BreakUpTicketmaster coalition. And supported @JKBustertruster when he brought the suit. We had a...
Antitrust Chief Cites Whiplash, Rejects Trial Oversight
"Not quite my tempo" After basing a speech on the honor of gangsters from the Godfather, antitrust chief Omeed Assefi approvingly quotes the sociopath teacher in Whiplash, Terence Fletcher. And says he opposes 'trials uber alles.' Weird from a Justice Dept...
Google Antitrust Settlement Offers $10K+ Advertisers Cash Refund
The Google antitrust remedies are actually going to lead to advertisers getting cash back. If you spent more than $10k on Google ads, you can file for damages here. The lawyer is Ashley Keller, he's a super creative antitrust litigator....
Tempur‑Sealy's Mattress Roll‑up Targets Component Supplier
Roll-ups everywhere continue, even while we sleep. Yes, I'm talking mattresses. After Tempur-Sealy’s acquisition of Mattress Firm last year, they are now trying to buy Leggett & Platt, which makes mattress components. https://t.co/C6jHeKQz02
Libertarian PR Firm Teaches Ethics While Rebranding 60 Minutes
Imagine being lectured on journalistic ethics by the company employing Bari Weiss to turn 60 Minutes into a libertarian infomercial.
SEC Chair Carr Signals Approval for Amazon‑Globalstar Deal
Brendan Carr is on CNBC saying he'll approve the Amazon-Globalstar deal that was announced today.
Private Equity Monopoly Inflates City Vehicle Costs, Taxes
If you love property taxes, thank a private equity exec. Private equity cornered ambulance and fire truck production and hiked prices. It turns out, I'm being told, they also did it to other specialty vehicles used by cities too. PE is...
Alabama GOP Makes Capping Electric Bills More Difficult
So Alabama Republicans, faced with a populist demand for more reasonable utility rates, changed their regulatory structure to make it *harder* to limit electric bills. https://t.co/8L6YD1plvc
Geopolitics Revolves Around Monopoly Power at Global Choke Points
A couple of observations about Trump’s blockade threat. Whether Iran and Trump threatening the Strait of Hormuz, power flows through choke points, aka monopolies. Same with China and rare earths, and the U.S. and the dollar. A lot of geopolitics is...
Private Equity Driving Surge in Ambulance Prices Since 2012
Today I released an investigative piece on something most people don't think about until they really need it - ambulances. The price of ambulances has skyrocketed since 2012. Why? It's likely... private equity. https://t.co/q4WMOV5HUD https://t.co/qRYqqQbXwH
Health Care Should Prioritize Lives Over Shareholder Profits
The basic health care platform for populists is simple. No one should die for shareholder returns.
Diplomacy over War: Buttigieg Slams Trump's Iran Stance
It was embarrassing all around, actually. Buttigieg's critique was not that the Iran war goals were bad, but that Trump should have used diplomacy. Ridiculous. Our entire approach to Iran as an enemy is the problem.
Michigan Consumer Sentiment Hits Record Low Since 1961
This month's Michigan index of consumer sentiment is at a historic low of 47.6. By way of perspective, it's so bad that pollsters have to adjust the Y axis on their chart that goes all the way back to 1961. https://t.co/3lnVNHVdpQ
Q4 GDP Slows to 0.5%, February Income Stalls
Some bad economic numbers came out today. 4th quarter GDP growth was revised down to 0.5%. And income growth was down in Feb. https://t.co/GBM4v964nK https://t.co/Hxd5nWNidS
Big AI Models Are Bloated, Not Superior
The entire AI space is based on a lie - big models are better. They aren't. They are just less efficient due to intentional bloat. Anthropic sells tokens. They want you to use more tokens. That's the deal.
NYT Reports Ryan Grim's Tip, Omits His Credit
So @ryangrim put this on X a few days ago, which is why the New York Times had to report on it (without crediting Grim, of course.) Would they have reported it if it hadn't been for Grim? I doubt...
Admin Conflict Leads CMS Changes Favoring Insurers, Wall Street Wins
My guess is Russ Vought told the CMS guys ‘redo this to make insurers happy.’ But who knows? There was a conflict within the admin and as usual Wall Street won.
Tariff‑free Tech Aims to Revive Manufacturing, at Google’s Cost
The Trump trade world is focused on making sure that software and e-commerce happens tariff-free. How does this boost of big tech help re-industrialize? Remember, if we are asking for stuff for Google, we are giving up stuff for people...
Trump Threatens Iran Tariffs without Legal Authority
Trump just threatened tariffs over Iran but also he doesn't have the authority to levy such tariffs. So there's that. Just astonishing we have to deal with this bullshit artist.
WSJ Parrots Chevron as California Refinery Demand Plummets
It's sad to watch the WSJ descend into simply rewriting Chevron press releases. Refiners are shutting in California because the state consumes far less oil than it used to. https://t.co/L0rNc3HvM4
Markets Rally Despite Escalating Middle East Conflict
So the strait of Hormuz is still shut, Iran is shooting missiles at gulf states and Israel, the U.S. is bombing Iranian energy facilities, and the market is up 1000 points over a ‘cease fire.’ Cool cool.
Trump Concedes Iran's Victory in Ongoing Conflict
Trump is rhetorically conceding to Iran on everything because Iran has clearly won this war so far. Hopefully it’s over but I doubt it.
We’re Fine with Our Couch‑side Take on Events
I mean it's probably good that there's a book coming out with the 'inside' story but most of us can sit on the couch eating Cheetos fairly comfortable with our understanding of what happened.
Newsom's Oil Refinery Regulation Sparks Unexpected Backlash
Gavin Newsom actually regulated oil refiners. And now there's a big backlash against him for doing something good.
Antitrust Division Losing Litigation Talent as Lawyers Quit
There's a massive drain of litigation talent out of the Antitrust Division as the lawyers there quit.
How the Strait of Hormuz Shapes Global Goods Flow
We did an awesome interview on the physical layout and flow of goods resulting from the Strait of Hormuz, with @mercoglianos. Listen here. https://t.co/jmVFr6LS8L
64% of Americans Fear AI Harms Education
"When it comes to education, nearly two-thirds of Americans (64 percent) think AI will do more harm than good, while 27 percent think AI will do more good than harm." Ban AI and electronics from schools. https://t.co/EMGLWAogeL
Long‑time Netflix Premium Users Owed €500 Refund
It must be nice to live where there's a rule of law. "A Premium subscriber who has paid for Netflix continuously from 2017 to the present day is entitled to a refund of about 500 euros, while a Standard subscriber is...
Cut High‑paid Admins, Not Tech, to Improve Care
If we got rid of hospital administrators paid multimillion dollar salaries that would be a lot better than letting them destroy care with Silicon Valley snake oil. https://t.co/F2gpwYJOPq
Insurers and AI Firms Secretly Record Therapy to Cut Costs
Yes, health insurer and Silicon Valley owned AI companies are taping therapy sessions and using that data. It's a creepy situation driven by health insurers not wanting to pay for mental health care. https://t.co/zLyh5fcdvr
CBS Lacks Credibility; California Refinery Faces Clear Monopoly
Of course CBS is not credible, the refiner problem in California is fairly straightforward monopolization.
Value‑based Care: The Healthcare Villain to Scrap
The villain in health care is something called ‘value based care.’ Get rid of it.
U.S. Shouldn't Fund Iron Dome; Prioritize Rare Earths
I don't think the U.S. should pay for the Iron Dome system not just because Israel is a bad ally, but also because we need the rare earths for our purposes.
Brookings Expert Downplays Iran Crisis, Calls Elite Hobbyists
Brookings Michael O’Hanlon is on cnbc saying this Iran situation isn’t an economic disaster and he’s glad Iran won’t get a nuclear weapon. The U.S. foreign policy elite needs to be crushed. They treat this stuff like it’s a hobby.
JPMorgan Says US Must Reopen Hormuz, Doubts Iran's Credibility
JP Morgan’s chief strategist is on CNBC saying the Strait of Hormuz has to be reopened by the US because it’s unthinkable for that not to happen. It’s a ‘temporary oil issue.’ They still don’t believe Iran has any credibility. Amazing.
Trump Says War Spending Will Cut Medicare, Medicaid
And here’s a 30 second ad against every Republican in the country. Trump ran on protecting Medicare and Medicaid, he’s now explicit that Iran war spending means those programs must be cut.
Government Outperforms Silicon Valley at Weapon Development
Turns out Silicon Valley and the private sector are shitty at making weapons. Who is good at it? The U.S. government. Yup, comrades, it's true. https://t.co/ucwVpK2XDK https://t.co/jQMRytQPjE
China’s Trade Surplus Centralizes Manufacturing,
Because on the economic front they say it, and they have a trillion trade surplus, which is designed to centralize global manufacturing in China. The left just doesn’t pay attention to commerce.
ADP Shows Unexpected Job Surge in Health, Education, Small Firms
Higher than expected job growth via the ADP survey, mostly in health and education, and mostly among small businesses. https://t.co/QYIRSn6mQX
US Should Replace Iran Containment with Friendship, Blame Israel
I don't understand why the U.S. strategy is organized around containing Iran. We should be friends instead of enemies. Israel is the main problem in the Middle East. Not a realistic view, I know, but it seems pretty obvious.