Tech and crypto firms have spent $1.2 billion during and since the 2024 election, and they are reaping the benefits.
antitrust
Posted inTAP
UnitedHealth Merger Approval Again Shows Lobbyist Power
Today on TAP: Another merger settlement allows consolidation in health care; UnitedHealth’s lobbyist was MAGA’s biggest firm.
Posted inBooks
How Apple Helped China Become a Tech Superpower
A new book details how Apple’s manufacturing strategy enormously benefited China.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The Second Gilded Age Is Resembling the First
It’s the return of rotten boroughs, railroad barons, and constant graft.
Posted inLaw and Justice
DOJ Does MAGA Lobbyist Bidding Again, Shutters Another Antitrust Case
Pam Bondi’s old lobbying firm, Ballard Partners, pushed to move through a business travel merger. Bondi’s DOJ did it, in a way that avoids judicial scrutiny.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The Law That Could Blow Open Trump Antitrust Corruption
Lobbyist meddling to get a critical merger case approved could face sunlight thanks to a 1974 law called the Tunney Act, which allows a judge to investigate the outcome.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
Cane Sugar in Coke Will Not Save Us
Big food and drink companies know exactly how to play Trump and RFK Jr.
Posted inUncategorized
Trump’s Government Haunted by the Ghosts of Bad Antitrust
Enforcers are waving through bad mergers and weaponizing others to reach ideological ends.
Posted inPolitics
Colorado’s Governor Greenlights Price-Fixing Algorithms
Democrats in Colorado’s legislature unanimously passed a bill reining in price-fixing software like RealPage. Once again, Gov. Jared Polis broke away from his party and vetoed it.
Posted inLaw and Justice
Apple’s Monopoly Is Finally Held Accountable
And within hours of a Wednesday court ruling, innovation on smartphones is exploding, showing private regulation can be more burdensome to markets than democratic rules CEOs like to condemn.