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.
For this week’s You’re Probably Getting Screwed, I wanted to highlight Senator Sherrod Brown and his farewell address to the U.S. Senate. He’s been a champion of workers and his voice is going to be missed. Thank you Senator Brown for your years of public service!
To watch his entire speech you can do so here.
YOU’RE PROBABLY (ALSO) GETTING SCREWED BY:
Big Tech
Silicon Valley giants are pushing the Biden Administration for an executive order that would "allow data centers to exceed pollution limits, open federal lands to data center construction and give data centers priority access to available power supply.” Pat Garofalo has further details and analysis in his newsletter “Boondoggle.”
Algorithmic Pricing
A new analysis from the White House Council of Economic Advisors finds that pricing algorithms like those used by RealPage and Yardi cost renters around $70/month, although the impact can vary significantly by state.
Amazon
Third party sellers on Amazon already face massive fees and now the tech giant is further tightening the screws. The company has announced changes to how they reimburse sellers for products that are lost or damaged that will not only result in sellers losing money, but will require them to hand over detailed manufacturing information to Amazon that can be used against sellers.
Big Liquor
The largest liquor distributor in the US, Southern Glazer’s, has been giving chains like Costco, Kroger and Total Wine and More exclusive discounts and raising costs on independent small businesses. Fortunately for the first time in decades the Federal Trade Commission has sued the distributor under the Robinson-Patman Act, which prohibits such price discrimination.
Tyson
The meatpacking giant is attempting to engage in corporate censorship, attempting to intimidate farmers that speak out about Tyson’s abusive activities and the journalists that cover the actions of this corporate monopolists.
WSJ Editorial Board
You can judge a person’s work by the enemies it attracts and no one hates Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan as much as corporate America’s mouthpiece, the Wall Street Journal editorial board, which ran its 123rd piece against her. So obsessed.
Kanter’s Farewell Address
Not good news necessarily, but Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter gave a farewell address to the Antitrust Division this week (he will step down tomorrow) and it is worth the read. Kanter spent time in the speech reflecting on a trip he made to Minnesota and what he learned from a rural farming community.
FTC Finalizes Junk Fees Rule
The Federal Trade Commission finalized a rule this week that bans junk fees for short-term lodging and live-event ticketing.
Bipartisan Proposal to Break Up Healthcare Monopolies
Senators Josh Hawley (R - Missouri) and Elizabeth Warren (D - Massachusetts) have introduced legislation that would require health insurance companies with pharmacy benefit managers to sell off the pharmacies they own within three years.
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
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