Todd Davies

@todddavi.es

1627 Followers 1126 Following

Competition Law PhD Candidate @ University College London Working on a theory of the competitive process, polycrisis, private power, political economy, ecology and democracy. Previously a software engineer. https://todddavi.es 🍉🌱

Screenshot from a BBC news article with the headline "Musk accuses OpenAI lawyer of trying to 'trick' him in combative testimony".
A screenshot of an article about board game collecting from The Guardian entitled "Experience: I own the world's largest Monopoly collection".
In May 2023, the Hungarian authorities imposed a fine on the retailer SPAR Magyarország after finding that, in one of its shops, it had not respected the daily quantities in stock of five products referred to in the decree. The authorities imposed and justified the fine referring to the protection of consumers. In fact, in determining the amount of the fine, that authority took into account, among others, the large number of consumers affected by that infringement given the location of the store in question. Moreover, during the proceedings, the Hungarian Government justified the government decree by referring to the objectives of combating inflation and the protection of disadvantaged consumers by means of a guaranteed supply of basic foodstuffs at affordable prices (see para 41 of C-557/23 SPAR). SPAR brought proceedings before the Szeged High Court seeking annulment of the decision of the authorities. As the Szeged High Court had doubts concerning the compatibility of the Government Decree with the Common Market Organisation (CMO) Regulation, and in particular with the principle of free formation of selling prices of agricultural products on the basis of fair competition, that court sought a preliminary ruling from the ECJ. The Court ruled that the Hungarian Government Decree was contrary to EU law, through undermining fair and free competition, a fundamental component of the CMO Regulation. The obligation to offer for sale agricultural products at regulated prices and in specific quantities prevented traders from freely setting their selling prices and the quantities they wish to sell on the basis of economic considerations.
The "Left Exit 12 Off Ramp" showing the "UK Government Seeking Growth" choosing to "Hire Big Tech Monopolists as Market Regulators" before "Join a Customs Union"
A picture of Franz Neumann's book "Behemoth".
A screenshot of Mark Zuckerburg, channelling Roman emperor vibes, appearing on Joe Rogan's podcast.
A picture of Franz Neumann's book "Behemoth".
Firms can be considered as oases of private power, functioning essentially as private governments within their sphere of influence. This perspective highlights their capacity to wield significant power over others within their domain. Scholarship operationalising the concept of republican liberty within competition law builds on this understanding in three ways. First, that dominant firms may, as a result of this local monopoly of power, be able to “interfere with other market participants at whim”. Second, that competition law has historically pursued non-domination in markets. Third that by preventing relationships of ‘domination’ from developing on markets, competition helps ensure that economic power is diffused. A central mechanism by which economic power is diffused is that of market contestability, since the potential for entry of new businesses prevents the entrenchment of unbalanced power dynamics on markets. Absent contestability, markets inhere a form of private “unfreedom”, where powerful economic entities can dominate less powerful ones by virtue of being in a superior bargaining position, and are not subject to competitive constraint.
A screenshot of the following text: The Apple CEO’s donation is part of a trend of wealthy business leaders and tech companies contributing to Trump’s second inaugural fund. Citadel CEO Ken Griffin also intends to donate $1 million, according to Bloomberg. Amazon, founded by Jeff Bezos, is expected to donate $1 million, the Journal reported. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is expected to make a personal donation of $1 million ,while Meta, run by billionaire CEO Mark Zuckerberg, donated the same amount to the inaugural fund, according to CNBC. Car companies Toyota, Ford, and General Motors are also each reportedly donating $1 million to the fund.
The "expanding brain" meme, with the text: - Level 1: Competition law has nothing to do with democracy - Level 2: Competition law fosters democracy through media pluralism - Level 3: Competition law fosters democracy through consumer choice - Level 4: Competition law fosters democracy by preventing domination
A screenshot of the text "But living on social media, seeing the world through its lens, is like returning to a pre-information age. First, because everything is current. Records of previous discussions fade quickly – miss a day and it is almost impossible to catch up. Instead, as with cycles of oral history, memories of the past are collective and mutable."
"Users attract advertisers, and advertising dollars fund general search engines, creating a perpetual feedback loop that further entrenches Google."
A picture of the outside of a polling station.