You're Probably Getting Screwed... Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is an example of what's wrong with the economy.

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.

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Did you watch the Super Bowl? Because it’s one of the best ways to describe our economy right now.

Last year’s Super Bowl broke the record for advertising revenue with over $600 million. This year, Super Bowl 58 had the biggest tv audience since the moon landing! When a 30 second ad costs $7 million, and with the game going into overtime, someone made bank!

So if you worked at the company that owns the channel that showed the Super Bowl, you’d think your job would be safe, right?

Wrong.

“Paramount Global to lay off 800 employees after record Super Bowl ad revenue and ratings.” The CEO warned that Paramount Global would “reduce our workforce globally” as part of “our path to earnings growth.”

We might as well check out the CEO’s salary… Shocking, it went up to $32 Million a year.

Let’s look at the Super Bowl advertisers. These companies had enough money to buy these crazy expensive ads. The employees' jobs should be safe, right? Wrong, again.

In the last two years, according to the San Francisco Standard, 69% of Tech and Online Super Bowl Advertisers laid off workers.

This trend is troubling. CEO salaries are skyrocketing. Employees are being laid off as part of a “path to earrings growth.” This is creating the gap between the haves and the have nots.

That’s why we need to work on building an economy that works for everyone. Until then, you’re probably going to get screwed.

YOU’RE PROBABLY (ALSO) GETTING SCREWED BY:

Kroger-Albertsons

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser became the second AG, along with Washington’s Bob Ferguson, to challenge the mega grocery merger between Kroger and Albertsons under state antitrust law. One interesting facet of the Colorado lawsuit is its focus on the companies use of restraints on workers. 

The Koch Brothers

Speaking of state government, state officials including Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand and my Democrat colleagues in the Iowa Legislature are stepping up to oppose the acquisition of an Iowa fertilizer plant by fertilizer monopolist Koch Industries. 

Drug Shortages

The Federal Trade Commission announced it is examining the role group purchasing organizations (companies that help hospitals purchase things and which are highly consolidated) and drug wholesalers are playing in generic drug shortages. 

Fanatics

Spring Training has kicked off and Major League Baseball players arrived to camp less than impressed by the new uniform offerings from sports retail monopolist Fanatics, whose CEO wants to build the Amazon of sports. 

Algorithms

We recently highlighted the way algorithms are being used to jack up rent prices, but Uber’s CEO has now joined the fray admitting publicly the company engages in “algorithmic wage discrimination” by gathering data from drivers and using it to pay them differently. 

Apple

Just six months after supporting a right to repair bill in California, Apple recently testified against one in Oregon. Why the change of heart? Oregon’s bill would prohibit “parts pairing” which requires Apple or an Apple-authorized repair shop (this practice is not limited to Apple or smart phones though) to digitally unlock parts used to fix a device enabling the company to maintain control of the repair process. 

eBay

A group of eBay card sellers is accusing the company of abusing its monopoly power over the online card buying and selling industry by acquiring or shutting down competitors, preventing sellers from using alternative platforms and punishing sellers that have expressed support for unionization efforts at an eBay-owned company, TCGPlayer. 

Mergers

They not only kill jobs, but Axios has a good story on how blocking mergers can lead companies to put out new products and build capacity instead of simply acquiring everything in sight. What a concept! 

Home Prices

One overlooked consequence of America’s housing affordability crisis is that people get trapped in places because it is too expensive to move. 

Misclassification

If you enjoyed the Super Bowl this weekend chances are the cheerleaders you saw on the sidelines were classified as independent contractors, despite all sorts of specific rules on their conduct. But not in California where they passed a law in 2015 to crack down on the practice. 

WORTH A WATCH:

Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, who heads the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice, recently spoke an antitrust conference in Brussels and it is worth a watch. 

 

BEFORE YOU GO

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Standing Tall for All,

J.D. Scholten