Banks are in the business of paying interest on deposits so that they can lend out the funds deposited with them at a higher rate of interest. Some will respond that the latter is a statement of the obvious, but sometimes the obvious requires stating. In particular it requires stating as banks are accused […]
Banks Aren’t Interested In Politics, But Politicians Are Interested In Banks Read More »
“Our company is thirty days from going out of business.” Every so often it’s useful to reference the previous quote. It’s real, and to this day can be found posted in the headquarters of Nvidia, presently one of the most valuable corporations in the world. To those who don’t know, the quote is a
James Grant’s Perpetual Misery Blinds Him to Market Reality Read More »
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is presently demanding that Google sell Chrome, the world’s most popular internet browser. Oh wow, not again… Traveling back in time, as late as 2002 Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) could claim 94 percent of the web browser market. Which was the problem, albeit not for consumers, but for Microsoft. Just as
Google’s Reward for Being the Best? DOJ Harassment Read More »
In a recent article published in the Wall Street Journal, it was reported that credit-card giant Visa offered Costco a rather princely, anti-competitive deal in 2014. At least that’s the impression conveyed by the aforementioned article. Please read on. At the time of Visa’s bid, American Express was the only credit card Costco customers could use if
Visa Isn’t Anti-Competitive, It’s Everywhere You Want It To Be Read More »
The protectionist attacks on TikTok continue, this time care of thirteen state attorneys general and the District of Columbia. The New York Times reports that the multi-state lawsuit against TikTok is rooted in the accusation that it’s “creating an intentionally addictive app” that is allegedly harming teenagers and children. The very accusations raise obvious questions. Seriously,
Businesses Exist to Dominate the Markets They’re In Read More »
“We don’t take American Express.” Those five words kept coming to mind last week while reading about the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust case again Visa. To which some will reply that the DOJ’s lawsuit isn’t about competition in the credit card space, rather it’s about Visa’s alleged abuse of its supposedly “dominant” position in the
The Cure For Visa’s Market Dominance Is Visa’s Market Dominance Read More »
According to a recently released report from the New York Fed, Americans collectively owe over $1.1 trillion on their credit cards. Reports like this have a tendency to elicit bad ideas from politicians. For instance, Donald Trump has called for federal caps on interest rates charged to those who run up credit-card debt. Except that readers
It’s Lost on Christopher Waller That Shareholders Require Returns Read More »
Chevron recently announced that it is moving out of California after almost a century and a half in the state. No wonder, since Sacramento sued the company, along with a number of other oil companies, for allegedly deceptive practices.
The Supreme Court Must Stop Climate Extortion Schemes Read More »
Elon Musk recently revived the notion of “government efficiency.” No, there’s no such thing. Always and everywhere there’s no such thing. It’s a mirage.
A Government Efficiency Commission? Can We Be More Ridiculous? Read More »
It has always been said that Amazon killed off the local bookstore. How could what profoundly increased access to books and the fun of reading them have killed off local stores?
Like Tom Cruise With Movie Theatres, Amazon Saved Bookstores Read More »
