19. Will Lina Kahn’s positive relationship with populist Republicans like Hawley, Gatez, and Vance as well as changing opinion on antitrust in the party lead to her staying on at the FTC?
Interesting. This is probably a stark divide in the new GOP. Between the Big Tech skeptics and the libertarians, who may not love Big Tech but who don’t trust the FTC to make things better.
There is a populist movement against corporate power in the GOP that did not exist before Trump broke the old neocon consensus on economic issues. I do feel the need to point out that the neocons have a vastly different view of corporate power than the post war Republicans from the 40’s to 70’s. Interestingly enough, Biden’s antitrust work by far the most popular part of his administration among Trump’s voting base. If you want to know more about these dynamics I would recommend checking out Matt Stoller’s Substack.
On reflectíon I don't think it's coincidental that changing the basis of our taxation system in the UK is underway too. They are being wickedly clever about it as the plan is to shift the burden of taxation from "income" to "assets=wealth". So far they've successfully kidded everybody (I'm judging by the voices of callers in one talk radio shows) - people think it means they will pay less tax from their 'humble' jobs but the likes of Bezos,Musk,Gates et al will at last get their just desserts and the tax they will be forced to pay will fund our society. At last. They are clever to encourage people to think like that. But already a few people are waking up to realise that the people more likely to be paying tax on assets (as well as income) is them. Those few shares they bought in the 1980s,that artwork they inherited from Grandma,by a once obscure artist now all the rage, the house they live in,was in a low rent area that's recently been discovered by creatives and now house prices have soared and on paper they're a millionaire. After our budget next week (in UK) I think a lot of people are getting a nasty shock,me as well probably.
I thought the high debt would ensure that the US would be running high inflation for a while. High inflation is used to combat the debt. Making the money worth less makes the debt lower. Thats a big elephant in the room to ignore. I dont think any party will be sble to impact the situation in any different way. BRICS nations are already prepared for the trade war, so placing high tariffs and breaking free trade agreements will likely hurt the poor. The lower rungs of the US are dependent on cheap foreign goods. The US has been running a trade deficit fot a while and it will be hard to change , unless they kiss and make up with china Russia and BRICS
Inflation may help some debtors with locked-in rates, but higher interest rates are dramatically boosting U.S. payments on a growing debt. The U.S. should have locked in 100-year bonds when it had the chance.
19. Will Lina Kahn’s positive relationship with populist Republicans like Hawley, Gatez, and Vance as well as changing opinion on antitrust in the party lead to her staying on at the FTC?
Interesting. This is probably a stark divide in the new GOP. Between the Big Tech skeptics and the libertarians, who may not love Big Tech but who don’t trust the FTC to make things better.
There is a populist movement against corporate power in the GOP that did not exist before Trump broke the old neocon consensus on economic issues. I do feel the need to point out that the neocons have a vastly different view of corporate power than the post war Republicans from the 40’s to 70’s. Interestingly enough, Biden’s antitrust work by far the most popular part of his administration among Trump’s voting base. If you want to know more about these dynamics I would recommend checking out Matt Stoller’s Substack.
On reflectíon I don't think it's coincidental that changing the basis of our taxation system in the UK is underway too. They are being wickedly clever about it as the plan is to shift the burden of taxation from "income" to "assets=wealth". So far they've successfully kidded everybody (I'm judging by the voices of callers in one talk radio shows) - people think it means they will pay less tax from their 'humble' jobs but the likes of Bezos,Musk,Gates et al will at last get their just desserts and the tax they will be forced to pay will fund our society. At last. They are clever to encourage people to think like that. But already a few people are waking up to realise that the people more likely to be paying tax on assets (as well as income) is them. Those few shares they bought in the 1980s,that artwork they inherited from Grandma,by a once obscure artist now all the rage, the house they live in,was in a low rent area that's recently been discovered by creatives and now house prices have soared and on paper they're a millionaire. After our budget next week (in UK) I think a lot of people are getting a nasty shock,me as well probably.
I thought the high debt would ensure that the US would be running high inflation for a while. High inflation is used to combat the debt. Making the money worth less makes the debt lower. Thats a big elephant in the room to ignore. I dont think any party will be sble to impact the situation in any different way. BRICS nations are already prepared for the trade war, so placing high tariffs and breaking free trade agreements will likely hurt the poor. The lower rungs of the US are dependent on cheap foreign goods. The US has been running a trade deficit fot a while and it will be hard to change , unless they kiss and make up with china Russia and BRICS
Inflation may help some debtors with locked-in rates, but higher interest rates are dramatically boosting U.S. payments on a growing debt. The U.S. should have locked in 100-year bonds when it had the chance.
Great piece, Bret!