You're Probably Getting Screwed

We are living in the 2nd Gilded Age where economic concentration works for a few but leaves the majority of us behind. This newsletter is intended to highlight the stories of how regular Americans are getting screwed in this economy. This newsletter is for those who feel economically left behind.

Welcome to You’re Probably Getting Screwed, a weekly newsletter and video series from J.D. Scholten and Justin Stofferahn about the Second Gilded Age and the ways economic concentration is putting politics and profits over working people.

Thank you for the wonderful comments and responses the past few weeks. A common theme is “what can we do?” Often we are problem heavy and solution light.

Today, I want to highlight some of the major wins this year, this week and with this administration:

Stay tuned for call to actions and keep commenting!!!

YOU’RE PROBABLY (ALSO) GETTING SCREWED BY:

MERGERS

Monopoly power has run rampant in part because of lax merger enforcement, but there is hope on the horizon as the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice released new merger guidelines which Luke Goldstein in The American Prospect said amount to a “new corporate charter for American commerce” that will crack down on unchecked corporate consolidation. You can also find statements from the American Economic Liberties Project, Open Markets Institute and Institute for Local Self Reliance on the guidelines. 

HOSPITAL MERGERS

A proposed $142.5 million hospital acquisition that would have given John Muir Health sole ownership of the San Ramon Regional Medical Center and solidified its dominance in the region was abandoned this week following a suit filed by the FTC and California Attorney General Rob Bonta to block the acquisition.

MORE HEALTHCARE MERGERS

The FTC scored important victories in the pharma and biotech space with Illumina being forced to unwind its takeover of cancer-screening company Grail which followed an announcement that Sanofi, a French pharma giant that charges $750,000 a year for its Pompe disease treatment, abandoned the proposed acquisition of a competitor after FTC scrutiny of the deal. 

GOOGLE

Big Tech has finally lost! A jury found last week that Google’s Play Store, the platform you must use to purchase apps, is an illegal monopoly. The case was brought by Epic Games the make of the video game Fortnight.  

GOOGLE…AGAIN

Not to be outdone by private attorneys, a bipartisan coalition of all 50 state attorneys general announced a $700 million settlement with Google this week over its Play Store monopoly. The original lawsuit sought over $10.5 billion in damages so the settlement has its critics, but it has still been a rough week for Google.

BIG BANKS

Everyone’s favorite investment bank, Goldman Sachs, has been buying up US and UK companies using money from China Investment Corporation, a sovereign wealth fund owned by the Chinese government. 

BIG STEEL

Speaking of foreign acquisitions, US Steel wants to sell its business to Japan’s largest steelmaker, Nippon Steel. Bad for workers, bad for America. 

BEFORE YOU GO

Before you go, I need two things from you: 1) if you like something, please share it on social media or the next time you have coffee with a friend. 2) Ideas, if you have any ideas for future newsletter content please comment below. Thank you.

Standing Tall for All,

J.D. Scholten