RoR: Forum

That's all well, fine, and good -- or awful, terrible and bad -- but the post itself highlights a major problem with the "Objectivist movement" (so-called) as well as with "libertarians" and, for that matter, Christians and Krishnas: the citation is to another blog that we all know we are going to approve of. That blog only tells us what we expect and want to hear.

I agree that there is no "anti-trust problem" but rather an anti-trust enforcement problem. So, I recommend getting closer to the souce.

WASHINGTON — A former employee of a financial services company pleaded guilty today for his participation in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies related to contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other related municipal finance contracts, the Department of Justice announced.
(here)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
v.
JAU-YANG "J.Y." HO, Defendant.
2. From on or about September 14, 2001 until on or about December 1, 2006, the defendant's corporate employer, Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corporation ("Chi Mei"), and coconspirators entered into and engaged in a combination and conspiracy in the United States and elsewhere to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing the prices of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display panels ("TFT-LCD").
(here)

GEORGIA FOOD EQUIPMENT HARDWARE MANUFACTURER AND ITS FORMER PRESIDENT AGREE TO PLEAD GUILTY TO CUSTOMER ALLOCATION CONSPIRACY
WASHINGTON — A New York corporation, whose principal place of business is Newnan, Ga., and its former president have agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to allocate customers for the sale of food service equipment hardware, including walk-in refrigeration equipment, the Department of Justice today announced.
(here)

The U.S.Department of Justice Anti-Trust Division website is here.

The Mises.Org website presented no facts. You did not need them. They published an invective and you endorsed it because you knew you would it agree with it because it was a rehash of Ayn Rand.

Why not come to the defense of these firms and individuals? Why not form working PACs and Legal Defense Funds? The reason is that you do not want a solution. You live for the problem. Cato and the Libertarian Party are both in Washington DC. Why? What does it mean to be "closer" to the enemy? Where would they be if the governmnt evaporated? They would be unemployed.

Mises Dot Org does its best work when it explains economics. Rather than rehashing Ayn Rand, I call for pushing forward the frontiers of Austrian economics... if that is possible. If not -- and Newtonian physics seems fairly well understood -- then is there a practical application, something for economics for which the electric generator demonstrates the laws of physics?

Post 1

Friday, May 21, 2010 - 9:10pm

Michael,

I don't know about anyone else reading this thread, but I found the article that Luke linked to at Mises.org to be more interesting and on target than your post, especially that strange rant at the bottom where you blast the reader: "...you do not want a solution. You live for the problem. Really?

And I wasn't excited where you told the reader to quit rehashing Ayn Rand, and made your "...call for pushing forward the frontiers of Austrian economics" instead. Hey, if you think thats what needs doing, don't wait for me. Go for it.

Post 2

Monday, May 24, 2010 - 9:10am

"Why not come to the defense of these firms and individuals? Why not form working PACs and Legal Defense Funds?"

When I have the time and financial wherewithal (and after I've analyzed the best use of those resources and determined for which causes and organizations they will be most effective), I will. Until then, I have to work. The best I can do for now is discuss ideas and bring points of interest to the attention of people to whom those points might mean something.

And I think the mises.org article does make an interesting point; it reminded me of Rand's position on the irrationality of ex post facto anti-trust law, which is why I thought it would be relevant here.

I'm always happy to read more, of course, whenever I can. Thanks for the links.

Post 3

Wednesday, May 26, 2010 - 7:08am

Luke Morris wrote:
[MEM]: "Why not come to the defense of these firms and individuals? Why not form working PACs and Legal Defense Funds?"
[LM]: When I have the time and financial wherewithal (and after I've analyzed the best use ...

Well, yes, of course, that is the "tragedy of the commons" answer to the rhetorical question.

For one thing, the advocates of force and fraud build "public interest groups" easily and well because that is their culture. So, government aside, they are able to marshall resources for their agendas. And, in the case of the DoJ, it is the government, so they have tremendous resources. On the other hand, those who are more individualist are more given to minding their own business and, in point of fact, managing their lives in a the business-like way you do.

On the other hand, it would seem that by now some individualist would think of a marketable way to address this problem. Perhaps it cannot be done. Perhaps Cato, Mises, FEE, Hoover, Enterprise ietc., are, indeed, the social action enterprises that return profits to their creators. Thus, it would be incumbant upon me to launch an anti-anti-trust committee of some kind.

As you say, for now, considering my resources and how I choose to invest them, talking to others is all there is. More's the pity.

Steve Wolfer wrote: ... I found the article that Luke linked to at Mises.org to be more interesting and on target than your post ... you blast the reader: "...you do not want a solution. You live for the problem. Really? ... and made your "...call for pushing forward the frontiers of Austrian economics" instead. Hey, if you think thats what needs doing, don't wait for me. Go for it

You found a general complaint that you already knew you would agree with more cogent than the links to the facts that define the problem.

You are right about my not pushing the limits of Austrian economics. That is what Mises.Org would be doing, but for the social fact that institutes in honor of do more honoring of than they do innovating. It may well be impolite to rant about their doing what I know that they do so well. I point out that your reply did not point to their innovations.

As above, Luke Morris hit the nail on the head: socialists advance their social agendas with social tools while individualists mind their own business. Thus, there are no defense funds for the many victims of anti-trust.

(Edited by Michael E. Marotta on 5/26, 7:15am)

Post 4

Wednesday, May 26, 2010 - 7:13am

President of Iowa Ready-Mix Concrete Company Pleads Guilty to Price Fixing and Bid Rigging
Mon, 24 May 2010 16:45:07 -0500
The president of an Iowa ready-mix concrete company pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for the sale of ready-mix concrete, the Department of Justice announced today.
http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/press_releases/2010/258984.htm

Justice Department Requires Divestitures in AMC's Acquisition of Kerasotes Theatres
Fri, 21 May 2010 16:51:49 -0500
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice announced today that it will require AMC Entertainment Group Inc. to divest movie theater assets in Chicago, Denver and Indianapolis in order to proceed with its proposed $275 million acquisition of most of the theaters operated by Kerasotes Showplace Theatres. The department said that the transaction, as originally proposed, would likely substantially lessen competition among movie theaters that show first-run, commercial movies in the Chicago, Denver and Indianapolis metropolitan areas, resulting in higher ticket prices and decreased quality viewing experience for moviegoers.
http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/press_releases/2010/258878.htm

Post 5

Wednesday, May 26, 2010 - 7:29am

The Institute for Justice is doing this kind of legal work. They were the parents' lawyers at the earlier stages of the 2002 schoold vouchers case and in the Supreme Court for Kelo. In addition to school choice and eminent domain, they handle advertising rights, occupational licensing, campaing finance regulation and a variety of other cases. Check them out. Send them some money.

Post 6

Wednesday, May 26, 2010 - 9:36pm

I mentioned here before the blog Organizations and Markets. One of the authors there, Peter Klein, will be teaching an online course for Mises Academy, "Entrepreneurship in the Capitalist Economy," based on his book, The Capitalist and the Entrepreneur. The introduction to that book is on the Mises.Org website here as a Mises Daily report.

Post 7

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 2:12pm

Government prosecutes medical boycotters for denial of service .

IDAHO ORTHOPEDISTS CHARGED WITH ENGAGING IN GROUP BOYCOTTS AND DENYING MEDICAL CARE TO INJURED WORKERS

The department said that the defendants and other orthopedists conspired to gain more favorable fees and other contractual terms by agreeing to coordinate their actions, including denying medical care to injured workers and threatening to withdraw from healthcare plans offered by Blue Cross of Idaho. The department said that their conduct caused the state of Idaho and other healthcare consumers to pay higher fees for orthopedic services.
http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/press_releases/2010/259181.htm

Post 8

Thursday, June 3, 2010 - 8:31pm

so why are the orthodontists engaged in a crime and a union, which does the same thing (or worse), is not?

Post 9

Friday, June 4, 2010 - 1:21pm

Kurt, as I understand it, the orthodontists were out to line their own pockets, whereas labor unions participate in our great democracy through their political action councils. (Just guessing here...)

FORMER EXECUTIVE OF ILLINOIS REFUSE CONTAINER REPAIR COMPANY
PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD THE CITY OF CHICAGO

... Ritter and his co-conspirators conspired to deceive city of Chicago officials about the number of legitimate, competitive bids submitted for the contract. Specifically, Ritter and his co-conspirators fraudulently induced other companies to submit bids for the contract at prices determined by Ritter and his co-conspirators and greater than the price for which Ritter's company had submitted a bid. Included in these bids were fraudulent documents indicating that if awarded the contract, the bidder would enter into subcontracts to purchase goods or services for a specified percentage of the contract from a minority business enterprise company and a women business enterprise, as required by the city of Chicago. Finally, Ritter and his co-conspirators also fraudulently certified to the city on Ritter's company's bid that it had not entered an agreement with any other bidder relating to the price named in any other bid submitted to the city for the contract, the department said.
Today's plea resulted from an ongoing investigation of the refuse cart repair industry being conducted by the Department's Antitrust Division and the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General.
http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/press_releases/2010/259339.htm

Post 10

Friday, June 4, 2010 - 3:47pm

Orthopedists fix your joints. Orthodontists fix your teeth.

Jim

Post 11

Tuesday, June 8, 2010 - 2:16pm

Shrink bags for cheese and meat:

"... Bemis's acquisition of Alcan likely would substantially lessen competition in the development, production, and sale of flexible-packaging rollstock for chunk, sliced, and shredded natural cheese packaged for retail sale and flexible-packaging shrink bags for fresh meat in the United States and Canada. ... and would have facilitated coordination between Bemis and the remaining supplier of shrink bags for fresh meat."

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. BEMIS COMPANY, INC., and RIO TINTO PLC, and
ALCAN CORPORATION, Defendants. Dated: June 7, 2010
http://www.justice.gov/atr/cases/f259400/259443.htm

Post 12

Wednesday, June 9, 2010 - 9:53am

My bad on the name I missed that - Orthopedists. Doesn't change anything of course.

Mike - yes, we can't have a monopoly in the flexible-packaging rollstock for chunk, sliced, and shredded natural cheese market!

Post 13

Wednesday, June 9, 2010 - 4:37pm

The AntiTrust mavens have a sharp eye out, wary for dangerous concentrations of power running amok in our world.

That is, except for dangerous concentrations of governmental power. There is no agent or agency checking in on that out of all control beast.

So, we can sleep well at night, knowing we're safe from the Swiss vitamin cartels.

But, not so safe from the monopolists with guns.

'Swiss vitamin cartels.'

Are you shitting me?

The tone and tenor of the piece reminds me of Shorty Reich(Shorty Long? Must have confused him with Huey..) running DoL in the 90's, and his 'serving the taxpayer metric' defined as: the total dollar amount of small businesses run into the ground over technicalities filing 5500's ---frickin information returns, not even tax returns. A particular act of tyranny that then led to what was called 'The IRS Street Revolt.' Actual IRS agents -- human beings -- assigned to 'execute' that left wing nonsense refused, rebelled, and did not enforce the instructions handed down by the tyrants.

I think the lefties learned their lesson in the 90s when that backfired, and are retooling the IRS with adequately screened Fellow Traveller psychopaths this time.

There should be a painted wooden cartoon character guarding the major arteries leading into DC: "You must be at least this tall to RUN THE FRICKIN' ECONOMY."

I mean, your feet should at least touch the floor when you are sitting on The Emperor's Throne.

(Edited by Fred Bartlett on 6/09, 4:54pm)

Post 14

Friday, June 25, 2010 - 1:56pm