Why the Apple Antitrust Suit Matters – Matt Stoller/BIG

“To understand the importance of the Apple antitrust suit, it helps to start with the location of Tim Cook on the day of the announcement. On a day where the Federal government announces it wants to fundamentally reorganize your business, most CEOs would be at headquarters, figuring out how to push back, do media, talk to big shareholders or confer with legal. But Apple CEO Tim Cook was doing none of these. He was in Shanghai, where Apple makes most of its phones, trying to both shore up his relationships with the Chinese leadership, and deal with collapsing sales of the iPhone in China.

“Why is Cook in China on such a big day? The answer is that in China, unlike any other market he has to deal with, Apple must actually compete for market share.”

Turns out the commies are running a much more competitive market for phones than the U.S. An example of how “capitalism” does not necessarily result in well-functioning markets. Monopoly facilitates capital formation but saps incentive for investing in new technology and product improvement.

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