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Pluralistic: It's not a crime if we do it with an app (25 Jan 2025)
Today's links It's not a crime if we do it with an app: How Big Potato and the other food cartels did greedflation and got away with it. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2020, 2024 Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. Colophon: All the rest. It's not a crime if we do it with an app (permalink) The core regulatory proposition of the tech industry is "it's not a crime if we do it with an app." It's not an unlicensed taxi if we do it with an app. It's not an illegal hotel room if we do it with an app. It's not an unregistered security if we do it with an app. It's not wage theft if we do it with an app. Inflation is one of the most politically salient factors of this decade, and so much of inflation can be attributed to a crime, done with an app, with impunity for the criminals. The entire food supply has been sewn up by cartels of 2-5 giant companies, and they colluded to raise prices, and bragged about it, and got away with it, because neoclassical economists insist that it's impossible for this kind of price fixing to occur in an "efficient market." Some of these cartels are well-known, like the Coke/Pepsi duopoly. Pepsi's bosses boasted to their shareholders about "Pepsi pricing power," and how they were able to raise prices over the inflationary increases caused by covid and the Russian invasion of Ukraine: https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/11/price-over-volume/#pepsi-pricing-power You might know that pretty much every packaged good in your grocery store is made by one of two companies, Unilever and Procter and Gamble. Both CEOs boasted to their investors about their above-inflation price increases: https://pluralistic.net/2021/11/20/quiet-part-out-loud/#profiteering But other cartels are harder to spot. It may seem like your grocer's eggs department is filled with many different companies' products. In reality, a single company, Cal-Maine Foods, owns practically every brand of eggs in the case: Farmhouse Eggs, Sunups, Sunny Meadow, Egg-Land’s Best and Land O’ Lakes. They made record profits after the pandemic and through bird flu, a fact that CFO Max Bowman attributed to "significantly higher selling prices" and "our ability to adapt to inflationary market pressures": https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/23/cant-make-an-omelet/#keep-calm-and-crack-on But Cal-Maine is comparatively transparent. The other food cartels – especially those that serve the restaurant sector – are harder to spot. In The Lever, Katya Schwenk describes how four companies – Lamb Weston, JR Simplot, McCain Foods and Cavendish Farms – have captured the frozen potato market and all that comes with it (fries, tater tots, etc): https://www.levernews.com/the-rise-of-big-potato/ These companies have been hiking prices for years, but really started to turn the screws during the post-covid inflationary period. One of Schwenk's sources is Josh Saltzman, owner of the DC sports bar Ivy and Coney. Ten years ago, Saltzman charged $3 for fries; now it's $6 – and Saltzman's margins have declined. Saltzman has a limited number of suppliers, and they all get their potatoes from Big Potato, and they bundle those potato orders with their other supplies, making it effectively impossible for Saltzman to buy his potatoes from anyone else. Big Potato controls 97% of the frozen potato market, and any sector that large and concentrated is going to be pretty cozy. The execs at these companies all meet at industry associations, lobbying bodies, and as they job-hop between companies in the cartel. But they don't have to rely on personal connections to rig the price of potatoes: they do it through a third-party data-broker called Potatotrac. Each cartel member sends all their commercially sensitive data – supply costs, pricing, sales figures – to Potatotrac, and then Potatotrac uses that data to give "advice" to the cartel members about "optimal pricing." This is just price-fixing, with an app. The fact that they don't sit around a table and openly discuss pricing doesn't keep this from being price-fixing. What's more, they admit it. A director at McCain said that "higher ups" forbade anyone in the company from competing on price. A Lamb Weston exec described the arrangement as everyone "behaving themselves," chortling that they'd "never seen margins this high in the history of the potato industry." Lamb Weston's CEO attributed a 111% increase in net income to "pricing actions." Lamb Weston's execs understand that they're driving small restaurants out of business, and that the real beneficiaries are big chains that can pass the price increases onto their customers, like "Chili’s and the Texas Roadhouses and Cheesecake Factory": https://app.tegus.co/guest/document/view/67Hf3DiMGQ944SkfpRhLfNeiqekjA67sm2dxTCYtjoggUaJXk2chDg9wxMnZ This is by no means unique to the potato industry. A data-broker called Agri Stats works with America's largest meat-packers to rig the price of meat – packers send Agri Stats the same kind of data that Big Potato sends to Potatotrac, and Agri Stats sends back the same "recommendations" that allow them to raise meat prices across the board, in lockstep: https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/04/dont-let-your-meat-loaf/#meaty-beaty-big-and-bouncy Lots of food categories are as inbred as meat and potatoes: "four firms controlled nearly 80 percent of the almond milk market, for instance. Three companies controlled 83 percent of the canned tuna market, and four companies controlled more than 86 percent of the microwave popcorn market." The "price fixing is legal if we do it with an app" gambit is not just about food, either. Apps like Realpage let big corporate landlords – who've bought up a sizable fraction of all the available homes in America – collude to raise rents: https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/27/ai-conspiracies/#epistemological-collapse And private equity companies have rolled up all the fire truck companies, hiking the price of trucks, creating backlogs and bottlenecks for parts and service, and starving the nation's municipalities (including Los Angeles) of fire-fighting equipment: https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/did-a-private-equity-fire-truck-roll This kind of price-fixing was central to the enforcement actions of the Biden administration's trustbusters at the FTC, and their investigations and actions inspired state AGs and private parties to bring their own antitrust suits. The question is, will Trump's enforcers continue this agenda? And will Trump's judges – steeped in Heritage Foundation economics that insists that monopolies are "efficient" – find in their favor if they do? Inflation has lots of causes, it's true. But when an industry is consolidated enough to take advantage of a data brokerage or just engage in tacit collusion, any source of inflation – war, disease, weather – allows whole sectors to raise prices together, and keep them high, long after the shock has passed. (Image: Cryteria, CC BY 3.0, modified) Hey look at this (permalink) TikTok’s “cute winter boots” meaning explained https://www.usermag.co/p/tiktok-cute-winter-boots-meaning-explained-algospeak Book Review: 'Picks and Shovels' with a Bonus 'Bezzle' https://geekdad.com/2025/01/book-review-picks-and-shovels-with-a-bonus-bezzle/ Series of the Month: Martin Hench Novels by Cory Doctorow https://www.lovereading.co.uk/blog/series-of-the-month-martin-hench-novels-by-cory-doctorow-9225 Object permanence (permalink) #20yrsago What if Bill Gates hired Linus Torvalds? https://web.archive.org/web/20050207155531/https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.02/microsoft_pr.html #15yrsago Rogers Canada forces Android update that takes away root access https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/10/01/26/2358237/Canadian-Android-Carrier-Forcing-Firmware-Update #15yrsago Sane copyright doesn’t treat all copying as the same https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/jan/26/copyright-cory-doctorow #15yrsago ACTA: the leaked secret memos https://web.archive.org/web/20100130005036/https://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4730/125/ #10yrsago Plan C: The top secret Cold War plan for martial law in the USA https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2015/jan/26/plan-c-top-secret-cold-war-battle-plan-bring-unite/ #10yrsago Google strong-arms indie musicians into accepting brutal, crowdfunding-killing deal for streaming service https://zoekeating.tumblr.com/post/108898194009/what-should-i-do-about-youtube #10yrsago Great Firewall of Cameron blocks sex-abuse charities https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/24/internet-filters-block-sex-abuse-charities #10yrsago The Haunted Mansion was almost the Tiki Room https://longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com/2015/01/walt-disneys-enchanted-creepy-room.html #5yrsago Two years after a federal law banning shackling women during childbirth was passed, prisoners in America are still giving birth in chains https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/24/shackled-pregnant-women-prisoners-birth #5yrsago Andrew Cuomo’s naked hostility drives out MTA president Andy Byford, the “Train Daddy” who has transformed the world’s rail systems https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/you-blew-it-andrew-cuomo/ #5yrsago Fatal car wrecks are correlated with stock-market fluctuations https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167629619301237 #5yrsago Banks have returned to the pre-2008 world of automatic credit-limit increases for credit cards used by already indebted people https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-23/banks-are-raising-credit-card-limits-without-asking-customers #1yrago The long sleep of capitalism's watchdogs https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/26/noclar-war/#millionaire-on-billionaire-violence Upcoming appearances (permalink) Picks and Shovels with Ken Liu (Boston), Feb 14 https://brooklinebooksmith.com/event/2025-02-14/cory-doctorow-ken-liu-picks-and-shovels Picks and Shovels with Charlie Jane Anders (Menlo Park), Feb 17 https://www.keplers.org/upcoming-events-internal/cory-doctorow Picks and Shovels with Wil Wheaton (Los Angeles), Feb 18 https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Cory-Doctorow-Wil-Wheaton-Author-signing Picks and Shovels with Dan Savage (Seattle), Feb 19 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow-with-dan-savage-picks-and-shovels-a-martin-hench-novel-tickets-1106741957989 Picks and Shovels at Another Story (Toronto), Feb 23 https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/picks-shovels-cory-doctorow-tickets-1219803217259 Picks and Shovels with John Hodgman (NYC), Feb 26 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow-john-hodgman-picks-and-shovels-tickets-1131132841779 Picks and Shovels (Penn State), Feb 27 https://www.bellisario.psu.edu/assets/uploads/CoryDoctorow-Poster.pdf Picks and Shovels at the Doylestown Bookshop (Doylestown, PA), Mar 1 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow-picks-and-shovels-a-martin-hench-novel-tickets-1146230880419 Picks and Shovels at Red Emma's (Baltimore), Mar 2 https://redemmas.org/events/cory-doctorow-presents-picks-and-shovels/ Picks and Shovels with Lee Vinsel (Richmond, VA), Mar 5 https://fountainbookstore.com/events/1795820250305 Picks and Shovels at First Light Books (Austin), Mar 10 https://thethirdplace.is/event/cory-doctorow-picks-shovels-1 Picks and Shovels at Dark Delicacies (Burbank), Mar 13 https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3257/Thu%2C_Mar_13th_6_pm%3A_Pick_%26_Shovel%3A_A_Martin_Hench_Novel_HB.html#/ Cloudfest (Europa Park), Mar 17-20 https://cloudfest.link/ Picks and Shovels at Imagine! Belfast (Remote), Mar 24 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cory-doctorow-in-conversation-with-alan-meban-tickets-1106421399189 ABA Techshow (Chicago), Apr 3 https://www.techshow.com/ Teardown 2025 (PDX), Jun 20-22 https://www.crowdsupply.com/teardown/portland-2025 DeepSouthCon63 (New Orleans), Oct 10-12, 2025 http://www.contraflowscifi.org/ Recent appearances (permalink) A radical plan to fight U.S. tariffs and build an export industry jailbreaking consumer products from iPhones to tractors https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-14-day-6/clip/16123612-a-radical-plan-fight-u.s.-tariffs-build-export Right to Repair with Karen Sandler (Software Freedom Conservancy): https://videos.trom.tf/w/q1AAL629GYMFtN6nCy15WE Just Say It's Capitalism (This Week in Tech) https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech/episodes/1014?autostart=false Latest books (permalink) The Bezzle: a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (the-bezzle.org). Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies (https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3062/Available_Feb_20th%3A_The_Bezzle_HB.html#/). "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies (https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3007/Pre-Order_Signed_Copies%3A_The_Lost_Cause_HB.html#/) "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245). "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. Signed copies at Dark Delicacies (US): and Forbidden Planet (UK): https://forbiddenplanet.com/385004-red-team-blues-signed-edition-hardcover/. "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com "Attack Surface": The third Little Brother novel, a standalone technothriller for adults. The Washington Post called it "a political cyberthriller, vigorous, bold and savvy about the limits of revolution and resistance." Order signed, personalized copies from Dark Delicacies https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1840/Available_Now%3A_Attack_Surface.html "How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism": an anti-monopoly pamphlet analyzing the true harms of surveillance capitalism and proposing a solution. https://onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59?sk=f6cd10e54e20a07d4c6d0f3ac011af6b) (signed copies: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2024/Available_Now%3A__How_to_Destroy_Surveillance_Capitalism.html) "Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a new introduction by Edward Snowden: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250774583; personalized/signed copies here: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1750/July%3A__Little_Brother_%26_Homeland.html "Poesy the Monster Slayer" a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627. Get a personalized, signed copy here: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2682/Corey_Doctorow%3A_Poesy_the_Monster_Slayer_HB.html#/. Upcoming books (permalink) Picks and Shovels: a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books, February 2025 Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 2025 https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/ Unauthorized Bread: a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2025 Colophon (permalink) Today's top sources: Bruce Schneier (https://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram/) Currently writing: Enshittification: a nonfiction book about platform decay for Farrar, Straus, Giroux. Status: second pass edit underway (readaloud) A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING Picks and Shovels, a Martin Hench noir thriller about the heroic era of the PC. FORTHCOMING TOR BOOKS FEB 2025 Latest podcast: Enshittification isn't caused by venture capital https://craphound.com/overclocked/2025/01/20/enshittification-isnt-caused-by-venture-capital/ This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. 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