Allan Fels, former chair of the ACCC, has confirmed that big business is engaging in rampant price gouging. He'll issue a report with 35 key recommendations to the government.
How do I think this will play-out?
Workers and typical household consumers will continue to suffer from price-gouging and its effects on inflation.
Banks, supermarkets, aviation, and energy companies will continue to exploit their staff and customers.
Prime Minister Albanese will be a wet blanket, make a token gesture to implement some of the recommended changes, and at the same time give a multi-billion dollar handout to big companies to help them cope with the changes.
Malignant Potato in Chief and Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, will smirk and bluster on behalf of his rich kleptocrat mates.
The Greens will take credit for positive proposed changes wile also threatening to burn-down Parliament House because Albo's changes are only a small step in the right direction and not 100% perfectly aligned with Green's policy.
The Murdoch Media will portray Albo as corrupt sellout to China, ineffective, and a dolphin-hugging commie.
Petite partie de découverte de #Tokaido avec LaGrande (oui #TokaidoDuo aurait été plus adapté). C'est tout comme on me l'avait présenté : joli, accessible et atypique. La comptabilité des points se fait au fur et à mesure et permet de savoir où on en est...
Bon LaGrande s'est crue la banque du #Monopoly et a trusté tout le pognon. Et ça a payé : 2 repas ratés plus tard j'étais sur les dents et en peine pour mes souvenirs...
People on the #left: Don’t be fooled by right-wing claims that #unions & #strikes are ”anti-market”. On the contrary, they exist precisely because big business is anti-market.
In a #market#economy, everyone sets their price. A market that offers better working conditions for skilled workers, moves workers where they are happier.
But in a #monopoly, there is no option. For a worker bound to a location (due to family etc), the local factory is a de-facto monopoly.
💥😡
Manulife Insurance has announced its coverage of 260 drugs used treat complex or life-threatening conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's, multiple sclerosis, pulmonary arterial hypertension, cancer, osteoporosis and hepatitis C
....will ONLY APPLY at Loblaw / Shoppers pharmacies.
"If all the super profitable drugs are being captured by just one pharmacy chain that's a problem for the rest of the pharmacies." And Canadians.
@dangillmor@nr Inevitable. If you have the money, weaken/destroy the competition and then mop up the income from others subscribers who think they have no other choice.
Burned out #pharmacists seek #union representation as #CVS merges with #Aetna and #Caremark - "you treat your employees a certain way for so long they stop wanting to work for you"
Apple as a Petulant Child
9to5 Mac reports that while Apple will be opening up iOS to alternate appstores and default browsers, the iPad is not going to get these features. See there is evidently some nuance in the ruling saying that iOS is a gatekeeper but that's not what the iPad runs, it runs iPadOS.
«How Fighting #Monopoly Can Save #Journalism:
The collapse of the #news industry is not an inevitable consequence of technology or market forces. It’s the result of policy #mistakes over the past 40 years that the Biden administration is already taking measures to #fix.»
"After quizzing these companies about data practices, I learned that most are sharing what’s happening in my home with Amazon, too. Our data is the price of entry for devices that want to integrate with Alexa. Amazon’s not only eavesdropping — it’s tracking everything happening in your home."
#GeoffreyAFowler, 'Alexa has been eavesdropping on you this whole time'
@strypey@phlogiston
Then people wonder why we skip to the chase and commit to only using the derogatory term, scam'azon to refer to the abusive #monopoly.
Add to that the irony of having #scamazon gauge interest in communities outrage by gloating about their abuse in the #corporateNews outlet they own, ie. #TheWashingtonPost and we come full circle — its jerks all the way up (and around).
Don't forget to buy that scam'azon #ringDoorbell, fools.
@harrysintonen Maybe this will be the final straw that breaks the alcohol monopoly?
Depending on a single payment system for all government controlled alcohol dispensaries. Now that's a "real issue" that may get politicians to change their minds when the "juice" dries up... :KEKW: #systembolaget#Sweden#monopoly#alcohol#ransomware
I know I’m going to catch a lot of flack for this, but wouldn’t it be within a company’s rights to put out a SDK with a condition that they get a percentage of revenue generated by software created with it? And also within their rights to require that any software making calls to proprietary APIs on their operating system be compiled by that SDK?
There are tons of examples of this. Is the whole counter-argument that iOS is a monopoly?
@kfury The fundamental problem is that to have a #monopoly, #Apple would have to have the ability to set prices and production independent of their products' market segments, immune from the law of supply and demand.
But everything they make can be substituted with other products and platforms, albeit with those alternatives’ mix of features and capabilities.
That's called “competition," and those who can't hack it cry "monopoly" to the government.
Have you heard? We don’t have to take Roger’s latest price gouging lying down. The secret to a cheaper phone bill is more competition, and low-cost MVNO telecom providers are the key to getting us that competition.
The government hasn't gotten the memo yet and we need your help getting LOUD! Email your MP and INDU committee members to support MVNOs and ensure fair prices and choices for Canadians. 🇨🇦 https://openmedia.org/GoMVNO-em
People thinking copyright will save them from AI would do well to remember we are much, much closer to a world where AI companies can sue you for using your own work than one where you are magically protected from AI
If you don't have a lawyer you don't have a copyright. Not in any meaningful way.
@SirTapTap yep, #tech is a giant #monopoly. I do it simply to try to make a small case for myself in #court. I am sooo tired of companies taking my #intelectual#property with or without my “permission”. Let’s face it; we all signed their bs contracts allowing them to do this.
Monopoly was created in 1935 by Charles B. Darrow, based — without credit — on the Landlord’s Game, which was intended to teach players about taxes and had been patented by Lizzie Magie in 1904. Atlas Obscura's Adrienne Raphel looks at its cultural impact, whether it's a bad game, and its nadir — 2019's Ms. Monopoly, which remarkably failed to upend the patriarchy. edited to credit the original creator