The hottest Monopolies Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Business Topics

BOOM: Congress Imposes Public Utility Rules on UnitedHealth, CVS, and Cigna

BIG by Matt Stoller • 41024 implied HN points • 21 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Monopolies
  1. Congress moved to treat big pharmacy benefit managers like public utilities by banning unfair network exclusions, forcing full price disclosure, and stopping PBMs from keeping rebates except for real service fees, though those rules mostly take effect in 2028–29 and depend on regulators.
  2. A few giant, vertically integrated PBMs owned by CVS, UnitedHealth, and Cigna dominate the market and use rebates and network steering to push higher‑cost drugs and favor their own pharmacies, which has driven independent pharmacy closures and higher patient costs.
  3. State public PBM models and recent regulator actions show reform can cut costs and improve access, but the federal law still leaves conflicts of interest, weak penalties, and enforcement risks that could limit its impact.

Open Thread: Thoughts on 2026?

BIG by Matt Stoller • 6990 implied HN points • 28 Dec 25
💰 Finance Monopolies
  1. An open-thread invites the community to reflect on the past year in monopolies and finance and to share predictions for 2026.
  2. There wasn’t much news, so the usual monopoly roundup is paused and the newsletter is taking a short break to recharge.
  3. Readers are encouraged to answer three optional questions and continue the conversation, with access offered via a free courtesy post or a paid subscription.

The Insufferable Bros Who Run Corporate America

BIG by Matt Stoller • 56953 implied HN points • 26 Dec 23
💼 Business Monopolies
  1. The pharmaceutical industry is heavily influenced by aggressive marketing campaigns targeted at doctors, controlled by corporations like IQVIA.
  2. IQVIA, a major player in the healthcare industry, is involved in a trial over a merger that could impact the future of advertising to healthcare professionals.
  3. The FTC alleges that IQVIA's acquisition of advertising firms like DeepIntent could lead to a monopolization of the healthcare provider advertising platform market.

The Dirty Business of Clean Blood

BIG by Matt Stoller • 32315 implied HN points • 03 Feb 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Monopolies
  1. Dialysis industry is controlled by two powerful corporations - DaVita and Fresenius - impacting over half a million lives. Non-compete agreements could potentially change this monopoly.
  2. Dialysis is a critical treatment provided under universal healthcare for end-stage renal disease patients, but monopolistic control has led to issues like patient coercion and quality concerns.
  3. The lack of competition and consolidation in the dialysis market has led to lower survival rates in the US compared to other countries. Eliminating non-compete agreements for healthcare professionals could foster innovation and improve patient care.

Can a Writers Strike Save Hollywood from Monopoly?

BIG by Matt Stoller • 53286 implied HN points • 14 May 23
🎭️ Culture Monopolies
  1. Hollywood is facing a crisis with streaming services struggling to profit while dominating the industry.
  2. Legal changes in the U.S. over the years have stripped independent producers of bargaining power, impacting the quality of content.
  3. The ongoing writers' strike highlights the need to address the structural issues in the industry caused by consolidation and lack of market signals.
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Verizon won't let me go

New Means • 3675 implied HN points • 23 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Monopolies
  1. It can be frustrating to deal with corporations like Verizon when trying to cancel services.
  2. Monopolies can trap consumers by controlling essential goods and services.
  3. Corporate power imbalance and coercion are issues that need to be addressed for consumer autonomy and freedom.

Why does the Ancient Technology Matter?

kamilkazani • 412 implied HN points • 14 Nov 23
🕹 Technology Monopolies
  1. Strategic thinking often overlooks the significance of ancient technology in military production chains.
  2. Ancient technology can create major bottlenecks in military production due to path dependency and market fluctuations.
  3. Major military powers like the US, Russia, and China may be stuck with small, monopolistic suppliers that are key bottlenecks in their military production chains.

Is neoliberalism really dead? Or does it live on like a zombie?

Geopolitical Economy Report • 318 implied HN points • 19 Dec 23
🌍 World Politics Monopolies
  1. Neoliberalism continues to evolve and adapt, with different variations over the decades.
  2. Debt has played a significant role in the rise of neoliberalism, with exponential growth especially in the neoliberal era.
  3. The current global dynamics reflect a new Cold War, where neoliberalism faces off against alternative economic models represented by countries like China and Russia.

Why Monopolies Hate Repair

Fight to Repair • 118 implied HN points • 25 Jan 24
💼 Business Monopolies
  1. The fight for the right to repair is closely tied to the fight against monopolies. Companies like Apple use control over repairs to limit competition and maximize profit.
  2. Monopolies can hinder a circular economy by prioritizing profit over repairability. The push for a real circular economy requires challenging traditional capitalist notions.
  3. Legislation like the Digital Markets Act can help combat the restrictive practices of monopolies and create a more repair-friendly future. Advocating for right to repair policies and regulations is crucial in this fight.

Medical Guilds are Bad Medicine

Who is Robert Malone • 14 implied HN points • 29 Dec 25
🏥 Health Politics Monopolies
  1. Medical professional organizations act like modern guilds by tightly controlling who can practice, which limits competition, raises costs, and can harm patients.
  2. These groups concentrate power through credentialing, billing codes, publishing, and close ties with regulators and industry, fostering groupthink, censorship, and conflicts of interest.
  3. Meaningful reform — more transparency, open access, and freedom to innovate — is needed, otherwise government intervention or technologies like AI and big data will force change.

Alexa, what happened?

Margins by Ranjan Roy and Can Duruk • 1043 implied HN points • 24 Feb 23
🕹 Technology Monopolies
  1. Voice technology like Amazon's Alexa faced challenges in living up to the initial promise of being a transformative platform due to issues like annoying follow-up questions and closed-off ecosystems.
  2. Big tech companies often focused on 10x innovations rather than incremental improvements, leading to challenges in realizing the full potential of technological advancements.
  3. The economic incentives, user behaviors, and prevailing attitudes towards technology play crucial roles in determining the success and impact of innovations.

US Federal Reserve says its goal is 'to get wages down'

Geopolitical Economy Report • 279 implied HN points • 24 May 22
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Monopolies
  1. The US Federal Reserve chairman aims to bring down wages as a solution to high inflation, believing that workers have too much power in the labor market.
  2. Inflation is outpacing US wages, with the federal minimum wage remaining at $7.25 since 2009, showing that real wages have not kept up with rising prices.
  3. Economist Michael Hudson argues that inflation is primarily driven by corporate monopolies increasing prices, not by rising wages as claimed by the Federal Reserve.

Starship, Starlink, and some SpaceX-conomics

The efficient frontier • 78 implied HN points • 11 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Monopolies
  1. The economics of Starship are more complex than perceived, involving pricing, competition, and opportunity costs.
  2. Price and cost are not the same; in markets like space launches, firms charge markups and earn positive profits.
  3. Opportunity costs play a role in decisions, with each slot allocation affecting revenues from different sources like Starlink satellites.

Monopoly Eggs, Supporting Corruption, and the Actual Use of AI

God's Spies by Thomas Neuburger • 60 implied HN points • 31 Jan 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Monopolies
  1. Many grocery items are produced by just a couple of big companies, creating monopolies. This means less competition and potentially higher prices for consumers.
  2. Corruption in big companies happens often, and it gets worse when we don't pay attention to what really goes on behind the scenes. It's important to stay aware and not just look for who's in charge.
  3. Just because a company seems to be against a bad leader doesn't mean they're good. They might still be unethical, so we should be careful who we support.

Is Canada catching the anti-monopoly bug?

The Counterbalance • 39 implied HN points • 15 Mar 23
🌍 World Politics Monopolies
  1. Canada has been absent from the global conversation on antitrust or competition policy.
  2. Canada is urged to reform its competition laws to prevent further market consolidation and address monopoly power.
  3. There is a growing movement within Canada to advocate for anti-monopoly policies and challenge the monopoly-friendly status quo.

The Week in Repair: March 13-19

Fight to Repair • 39 implied HN points • 21 Mar 22
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Monopolies
  1. The Fair Repair Act of 2022 aims to protect consumers' right to repair by removing barriers set by manufacturers and providing access to parts and tools.
  2. Jonathan Kanter at the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division plans significant changes in antitrust enforcement, including addressing monopolization cases and reformulating merger guidelines.
  3. The European Parliament passed a resolution emphasizing the importance of the right to repair, focusing on product design, access to repair services, and incentives for repair over replacement.

Video: Can Repair Short Circuit Our Tech-Enabled Dystopia?

Fight to Repair • 19 implied HN points • 25 Oct 22
🕹 Technology Monopolies
  1. In our current reality, device makers use various tactics to maintain monopolies on repair services, which can lead to a less secure ecosystem and poorer service for consumers.
  2. The 'right to repair' movement aims to combat these monopolies and create a circular economy that reduces waste and enhances security and privacy for technology users.
  3. Experts at the DEF CON Conference discussed how dismantling repair monopolies can help prevent a 'Brazil' style dystopia and promote a more sustainable and secure tech landscape.

Biden's crackdown on monopolies gave a pass to health insurers when they should have been the focus.

HEALTH CARE un-covered • 19 implied HN points • 13 Jul 21
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Monopolies
  1. Health insurers have grown a lot since 2008, with some now being among the largest companies in America. This is a big change that affects consumers' choices and costs.
  2. Despite the focus on hospitals and drug companies, health insurers haven't faced much scrutiny for rising costs. The current system allows insurers to raise prices without clear benefits for consumers.
  3. The idea of having real choices in health insurance is mostly a myth. Many people find they have limited options, especially if their employer decides their coverage.

✍🏼 Put Down Your Pen

UnfairNation by Ehsan Zaffar • 7 implied HN points • 02 May 23
💼 Business Monopolies
  1. It's harder for writers to earn a living wage due to changes in the entertainment industry.
  2. Writers are facing income inequality and challenges in winning labor actions.
  3. Consumers can support writers by increasing awareness, providing food, and joining picket lines.