From railroad tycoons to tech titans, California has an antitrust bent (2023)

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Good morning and welcome to Essential CaliforniaInformative report. it isThursday, January 26th.

"Hey Google, are you a monopolist?"

The government's answer is yes.

This week, the US Department of Justice, along with California and seven other states,sued the tech giant, which claims to have an illegal domain over online advertising.

The company "used anti-competitive, exclusionary and illegal means to largely eliminate or mitigate any threats to its dominance over digital advertising technologies," the company said.antitrust civil action.

The federal and state Departments of Justice want to "disrupt Google's antitrust scheme, relax Google's monopoly on the market, and restore competition in digital advertising," the complaint reads.

"In many cases, a company's online presence can determine its success, and advertising is a key component of that equation," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. added:

In response to the request thatmountain view, California, said it "will vigorously challenge attempts to break tools that work for publishers, advertisers, and people across America."

"The Department of Justice reinforces the mistaken argument that it would slow innovation, increase advertising rates and hinder the growth of thousands of small businesses and publishers," said Dan Taylor, Google's vice president of global advertising.wrote on the company blog.

With major industries such as technology, agriculture, aerospace, entertainment and healthcare concentrated in California, the state, which is catching up with Germany for the titlefourth largest economy in the world- You have a lot to discuss.

"California has been a pioneer in the enforcement of state antitrust laws," said Diana Moss, president of theAmerican Antitrust Institute. The progressive non-profit organization studies big industry and advocates for strict enforcement of antitrust laws.

The state often signs federal complaints, "giving weight to antitrust claims," ​​he said, adding that California also has "a vibrant private enforcement community," such as private attorneys filing antitrust cases against companies.

The lawsuit against Google took a long time, Moss told me, as Google and other tech titans "went their way to dominance" without much challenge from regulators.

"There has been a lot of emphasis on ... the innovation promised by big tech mergers and not interfering with the venture capital-based start-up model that fuels the big tech acquisition pipeline," he said. "Both are dire reasons for the government to resist imposing mergers in this industry."

The Golden State has a long history of challenging big business, going all the way back to the early years of its statehood when the railroad companies went crazy.

The power of the railway industry was lost.largely untestedin the post-civil war era, when rail technology expanded and quickly became an indispensable means of transporting goods and people. This allowed companies to charge different rates to passengers, to farmers transporting their crops, and to merchants and shippers who needed to transport goods across an expanding nation.

The industry also had the power to expropriate land where it wanted to build roads and received financial support from the federal, state and municipal governments. The biggest companies bought the smaller competitors and then divided the markets among the giants. The growing reach of the railroad tycoons was beginning to alarm some politicians, even in California.

Newton Booth, the 11th Governor of the Golden State, served in that capacity as a Republican, but later broke away to join one.short-lived antitrust partybefore being elected to the United States Senate. He is the only independent United States senator from California.

In his 1871opening speechAs governor, Booth pledged that his government would "combat to the greatest extent one of the growing and threatening evils of our time: land monopoly".

He mentioned rail several times in his speech, referring to his well-worn argument that "competition is the best price regulator."

"There is practically no local competition," said Booth, "and we cannot ignore the general consolidation trend of all railroads in the United States, an achievement which, if achieved, will create a power greater than all the states, and the rival of the General Government”.

The move to keep the railway companies in check led to 1887.Interstate Commerce Act, making railroads the first industry subject to federal regulation.

In recent years, the Attorney General's Office has sued the telecommunications giantsauto parts manufacturer,health care provider,pharmaceutical companyygreat oil.

When the German chemical giant Bayer received approval from the US Department of Justice to buy Monsanto, California led a coalition of states that opposed the merger.

"California is the breadbasket of America and the world," said former Esq. General Xavier Becerra said in aPress releasethat moment. “With this merger, three companies control the world's food supply. ... When it comes to something as essential as food, no foreign company should have monopoly power over what Americans eat."

This merger finally happened.

So what should we consumers get out of Google's lawsuit? For Moss, it's the latest counterpoint to the conservative idea that "'free markets' are completely self-regulating and no government oversight is needed."

"If companies can gain and exercise market power without oversight, markets will become uncompetitive and everyone will suffer," he said. “We need antitrust authorities to call balls and strikes to ensure competition… that benefits consumers, workers and businesses. "

And now,This is what is happening in California:

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Coverage of mass shootings in California

San Mateo County authorities have identified six of the seven victims killed on Monday.Half Moon Bay shootings:Zhi Shen Liu, 73; Marciano Jimenez Martinez, 50;Qi Zhong Cheng, 66;Ai Xiang Zhang, 74;Jing Zhi Lu, 64;yYe Tao Bing, 43. The seventh victim was identified asJose Romero Perez, cited in the charges filed against the alleged shooter on Wednesday.chronicle of san francisco

The suspect in the Half Moon Bay shooting has been charged with seven murders.the attempted murder of eight survivors and other crimes.Los Angeles Times

The victims of the Half Moon Bay shooting were farm workers who earned low wages andhe lived in what the San Mateo County District Attorney described as "squalid". chronicle of san francisco

A memorial to the victims grows in front of the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park on January 24, 2023.

(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

It took hours for law enforcement to alert the public that the Monterey Park mass shooter was on the loose.With employees under scrutiny, our newsroom turned to the experts.Los Angeles Times

California's Asian community is already experiencing a rise in hate crimes during the pandemic, sometimes with older people falling victim.Now, with three mass shootings in recent months, the violence seems unbearable. Los Angeles Times

POLICY AND GOVERNMENT

California voters will decide the fate of a state law that could raise wages for fast food workers.The Rapid Recovery Act was supposed to take effect on Jan. 1, but a coalition of restaurants and trade groups gathered enough signatures to hold a referendum on the 2024 vote.Los Angeles Times

A new law includes a statewide ban on homeless encampments near parks, schools, libraries and day care centers.Representative Josh Hoover's (R-Folsom) proposal follows similar actions by local governments, including in Los Angeles.Die Sacramento-Biene

HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT

California's declining monarch butterflies receive millions in federal aid, thanks to the Infrastructure Act of 2022. A grant from the Monarch and Pollinator Highway program aims to better conserve habitat for butterflies, insects, and other pollinators, in part by funding planting and seeding efforts along highways and other roads.monterrey herold

This shows a CalMatters studyCalifornia sends nearly half of its toxic waste across its borders, often to states with weaker environmental regulations.State shipping records show that two out-of-state municipal garbage disposal sites on which the state depends are located near Native American reservations.CalMatters

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Times columnist Mary McNamara has a line about "Hollywood's Hottest Red Carpet”: The American Legion. TRUTH. Hollywood Post 43 was founded in 1919 by World War I veterans and early workers in the motion picture industry. The star of the former club is on the rise again, in recent months there have been great debuts.Los Angeles Times

The fate of a $2.3 million record collection has some in San Diego singing the blues.Dijkstra's black music collection, over 8,000 jazz, blues, gospel, soul and reggae CDs, was scheduled to go to San Diego State University, but the deal fell through. This created an opportunity for Stanford University, the new home of records.San Diego Union-Tribune

AND FINALLY

of todaypioneer lovethe end Genio Davis of Redondo Beach:end of the riverin "Perfect Little Jenner".

A night view of the River's End Inn in Jenner, taken on December 31, 2022.

(Genius Davis)

genius writes:

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