Our New Gilded Age is defined by its oligarchic concentration of wealth and power: not just how much wealth is controlled by the 0.001%, but how many of our key markets are dominated by just a handful of players -- sometimes just a single company.
In a new, visual report, the Open Markets Institute presents an easy-to-understand snapshot of market concentration in more than 30 industries, with historic data showing how the concentration has increased over time.
While digital markets are among the most concentrated, the report makes it clear that this isn't a "new economy" phenomenon -- otherwise, why would beer, a business that has its roots in ancient Egypt, be as concentrated as it is?
America's Concentration Crisis [Open Markets Insititute]
NPR has a bizarrely fascinating new piece about Drew Miller, the owner and founder of Fortitude Ranch, which is essentially a timeshare opportunity for Doomsday Preppers. Unlike the Survival Condos that start at $1.5 million, Fortitude Ranch “seeks to capture a solidly middle-class market.” The annual membership fee is $1,000, which gives you access […]
When John Stumpf (previously) was CEO of Wells Fargo, he oversaw a string of scandals including literally millions of acts of bank fraud, and still managed to walk out of the business with millions in bonuses and no criminal prosecutions.
Smarter people than me have pointed out that "work-life balance" says the quiet part out loud, implicitly confirming that you stop living when you're at work. Miles Matrix's Dungeons and Deadlines makes all this much realer with acerbic wit and rockin' chiptunes. My spouse left me after five turns. (via Four Short Links)
Website building apps are all about one thing — helping you craft a great-looking, fast-running website without having to mess with all that back-end code. However, nobody wants their site to look just like a template, so customization is all but a must. So how easy is it to make those changes and still not […]
In our modern world, our usual first approach to combating an oncoming cold is to medicate it into oblivion. Sometimes, that carpet bombing pharmaceutical attack plan can knock out the congestion and discomfort of an illness before it settles in. But there’s always something to be said for trying to put down the effects of […]
Whether you’re managing a political campaign or building a client base, there comes a time when you stop seeing people and start seeing numbers. This doesn’t happen suddenly. You shake hands, make calls, and build relationships. And then those relationships disappear into a database of donors or customers as your organization grows. People get brought […]
