There are broadly speaking two kinds of leaks in Washington, D.C. There are ‘intentional’ leaks that have some level of authorization and there are leaks by tipsters who are trying to draw attention to an issue that they may or may not like.
Readers can decide if the reports from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Detroit News, CNBC and other mainstream sources are a result of intentional or unintentional leaks. Either way, the result may be the same for giant Google, which is the focus of the purported legal action.
The move to break up the big tech monopoly – or more accurately, duopoly – could have implications for manufactured housing and firms like Warren Buffett led Berkshire Hathaway unit Clayton Homes and their affiliated lenders and ‘sister’ brands. That will be explored further below.
But on its face, reports of looming antitrust action against Google and Facebook by federal and/or state regulators is serious business for professionals and investors in manufactured housing. How so?
There have been years of testimony on Capitol Hill and also research reports of the various ways that Google and Facebook can tilt the scales for or against a person, business, political candidate or organization. Despite denials and heavy lobbying in defense of their positions, Google and Facebook have largely persisted in a course of action that could now be coming face-to-face with what would be the largest antitrust (anti-monopolistic) legal effort seen since the AT&T breakup and the Microsoft cases.
The climate for antitrust and related market manipulation regulatory and legal action has arguably been steadily heating up for the past few years. MHProNews has been informing readers step-by-step of the increased interest in antitrust that spans both major parties and has included the voices of those who believe in tech, but they don’t believe in tech so big that it can snuff out their competitors.
Antitrust in the Age of “Flatten The Curve”
When ‘flatten the curve’ became ‘flatten the economy’ and the pre-COVID19 plans of the major parties and their respective candidates was upended, the ‘play it safe’ approach in Washington is now apparently less in evidence.
Besides, with state and federal expenditures and debt soaring, the interest in potential revenue from legal battles with corporate giants over antitrust and related legal issues might seem more appealing to pragmatic money-motivated public officials.
Furthermore, independent media has already been under stress from Google and Facebook over their purported duopoly over digital advertising revenue. Amazon and Apple have come under increased scrutiny. The News Media Alliance has been pressing the issue of Google and Facebook’s dominance over ad revenues for some time in Congress. The fallout of the Google Facebook duopoly – in Buffett-like moat-building style – has been to slowly squeeze ever more competitors into consolidation or elimination. Thousands of jobs of journalists have been lost in the process. The business of news becomes ever more fixed in the hands of a few sources.
That’s a problem that Senator Bernie Sanders has raised alarms over in his way, and President Donald J. Trump and his communications and campaign team in another fashion. Amazon, for example, has been publicly hit by both Senator Sanders and President Trump.
That rise of voices from within Amazon may prove to be an inspiration for those working for or previously employed by a Berkshire Hathaway owned brand that could have useful information for public officials and regulators. Time will tell, but tips to MHProNews have been growing in 2020.
But with Google, Facebook, Amazon – which has its own antitrust and other issues – looming, can Microsoft, Berkshire Hathaway and issues involving manufactured housing be far behind?
Insider Insights
Antitrust action is notoriously slow from the public vantagepoint, due in part because it is quite technical in nature. Regulators have to be prepared to ‘make their case’ to a jury of ordinary Americans at some point, if the tech giants and other monopoly-minded oligarchs decide to go the distance in a legal fight. Thus, from the time from initial interest to actually launching a case can be months or years.
That noted, MHProNews has already reported on the stated interest at the state level on purported manufactured housing related market manipulation and antitrust investigations. There are also more subtle signals that federal antitrust regulators may be interested in antitrust and other legal issues involving manufactured housing.
Several congressional level officials, often Democrats, have named specific manufactured housing brands as part of their requests for one of the alphabet soups of federal agencies to investigate antitrust related actions.
Against that backdrop the Wall Street Journal and other mainstream media reports that Feds and state officials are preparing action against Google is occurring.
If so, manufactured housing independents and consumers seeking relief from problematic business practices may take heart. MHLivingNews has previously reported on Google’s allegedly problematic and biased search results. Independents and consumer groups might also be encouraged by the possibility of a growing awareness of the harm done by monopolists and oligarchs of the manufactured home market and beyond.
To be sure, there are mixed signals. But the momentum for antitrust action appears to be building. That could have significant meaning for companies of all sizes in MHVille, and for the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) too.
MHProNews will continue to monitor and update readers on report, insights and clues that could signal the beginning of the end of what appears to be prima facie examples of violations of antitrust and other laws.
As a bit of not so trivial and somewhat related classic video footage is this posted just 2 days ago about Bill Gates in his antitrust case from the 1990s. The title to the video asks the question, “Bill Gate – Antitrust – 1998 – Why do people trust this man with their health?”
The antitrust suits are expected to be filed in the summer, which is just around the corner. Stay tuned and see the related reports for more.
The antitrust suits are expected to be filed in the summer, which is just around the corner. Stay tuned and see the related reports for more.
That’s a wrap on this Monday morning installment of “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHLivingNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing. For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Related References:
The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which can be accessed by clicking on them.
Surprising March 2020 Manufactured Housing New Home Production, Shipment Data
“MHI Lies, Independent Businesses Die” © – True or False? – Berkshire’s Joanne Stevens Strikes Again
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