Shovel-Ready

A half-to-three-quarters-baked idea to fix capitalism.

A shovel in a pool of wet cement; from the left of the frame, we see the toe of a work-boot, seemingly poised to plunge the shovel into the wet concrete.
Alex Proimos/CC BY 2.0

America has a monopoly problem. The list of heavily concentrated industries grows longer by the day, even as the number of companies operating in each sector shrinks: pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical benefit managers, health insurance, appliances, athletic shoes, books, alcohol, drug stores, office supplies, eyeglasses, TV ads, internet ads, internet search, semiconductors, enterprise software, LCDs, vitamin C, auto parts, glass bottles, bottle caps, pharmaceutical bottles, airlines, railroads, travel search, railroads, mattresses, lab equipment, lasik lasers, offshore oil services, onshore oil services, contract manufacturing, food services, Champagne, cowboy boots, home improvement stores, and candy.

Monopolists Declared War on America

Once an industry is concentrated, everyone suffers. Highly concentrated industries can abuse their workers with impunity, because there’s nowhere else for them to go. Once an industry is sufficiently concentrated, its workplaces become literal slaughterhouses where workers risk their lives every day, while their bosses place bets on which workers will die first.

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Pluralistic: 10 Jun 2022


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Pluralistic: 20 May 2022


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Pluralistic: 07 Mar 2022


A tachometer wheel showing the relative speeds of DSL, cable, satellite, and fiber, demonstrating the vast advantages of fiber.

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We Should Not Endure a King

Antitrust is a political cause, not an economic one

Cartoon depiction of John D. Rockefeller wearing a crown with the names of rail lines that he effectively controlled
Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library

If we will not endure a King as a political power we should not endure a King over the production, transportation, and sale of the necessaries of life. If we would not submit to an emperor we should not submit to an autocrat of trade with power to prevent competition and to fix the price of any commodity. — Senator John Sherman, 1890, arguing for the passage of the Sherman Act

Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. — Frank Wilhoit, Crooked Timber

Whoever has the gold makes the rules. — Johnny Hart, The Wizard of Id.

People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. — Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.

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Pluralistic: 10 Feb 2022


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Pluralistic: 04 Feb 2022


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Pluralistic: 02 Feb 2022


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