@pluralistic „Sorenson has one of those billiard-ball smooth brains characteristic of neoclassical economics zombies who insist that monopolies are simultaneously beneficial and impossible.“
This part really shows how important it is to question models. Under ideal market conditions monopolies could not happen, as cooperation could never be ensured and it would always pay to underbid competitors. So it can be seen as a prisoners dilemma. 1/n
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This weekend (June 7–9), I'm in Amherst, New York to keynote the 25th Annual Media Ecology Association Convention and accept the Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity:
@pluralistic
Ah, but were they supposed to do, when the ugly politicians exposed them to brutal competition? Either live without profits or be honest about the prices they want to offer, which would not be competitive with the guys who used the fees-trick to lower the official price (even if the effective price paid by the consumer might end up higher).
It's the “let's break it down to one number” simplification that humans love. As if the GHz of the CPU tells you how fast a PC is.