Posts tagged January 2020
Personalization or Price Discrimination?
Personalization or Price Discrimination?

Personalized pricing was a popular topic at the National Retail Federation’s annual convention in New York City this month, reports Food & Power Reporter Claire Kelloway. Grocery stores can leverage a combination of data analytics and customer identification and tracking tools to offer real-time individual pricing and promotions, both online and in-store. While the practice may still be in its infancy, some experts believe that personalized prices will become the standard in food retail and beyond.

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BlogsClaire Kelloway2020, January 2020, Food & Power, Food & Agriculture, Claire Kelloway
Open Markets Promotes Health Care Reform to Lower Prices Without Raising Taxes or Ending Private Insurance
Open Markets Promotes Health Care Reform to Lower Prices Without Raising Taxes or Ending Private Insurance

Open Markets Policy Director Phil Longman presented a groundbreaking plan to reform health care prices, in the cover story for the current issue of the Washington Monthly. Longman proposed a system that we’re calling Medicare Prices for All. The basic idea is simple: Have the federal government mandate that the prices Medicare pays for health care apply to all health care plans.

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BlogsPhil Longman2020, January 2020, Phil Longman
Miami Herald - South Fla. hospital chains and insurers are getting bigger. Is that good for patients?
Miami Herald - South Fla. hospital chains and insurers are getting bigger. Is that good for patients?

Open Markets Policy Director Phil Longman commented to the Miami Herald on hospital chains and insurers in South Florida and whether growing consolidation is good for patients. “Sometimes, through consolidation, you get real economies of scale: better coordination, integration of care,” Longman said. “But experience has shown that whatever cost savings result are generally not shared with consumers.”

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ClippingsOpen MarketsJanuary 2020, 2020, Phil Longman
The Washington Post: Pelosi's Facebook slam reflects rising tensions between social media giant and Democrats
The Washington Post: Pelosi's Facebook slam reflects rising tensions between social media giant and Democrats

Sally Hubbard spoke to The Washington Post about how it’s important for CEOs from the biggest tech firms to testify before Congress amid the big tech probe taking place by the House Antitrust Subcommittee. "I think it's important for the CEOs to appear in a public hearing to make clear they are accountable to our democratically-elected representatives and to the American public," she said.

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ClippingsOpen MarketsPolitics, January 2020, 2020, Facebook
Trump’s USDA Sides With Corporate Meatpackers Over Farmers, in Latest GIPSA Proposal
Trump’s USDA Sides With Corporate Meatpackers Over Farmers, in Latest GIPSA Proposal

Claire Kelloway reports that the USDA thwarted a decade of efforts to help farmers seek justice for discrimination, retaliation, and unfair treatment by meatpackers. Trump’s USDA introduced new criteria to determine whether a meatpacker violated the Packers and Stockyards Act. This latest proposal omits several critical farmer protections from the previous rule and introduces new language that could codify abusive industry practices.

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BlogsClaire Kelloway2020, January 2020, Food & Power, Food & Agriculture, Claire Kelloway
The Washington Post: Smaller companies taking a risk as they challenge Big Tech in hearing
The Washington Post: Smaller companies taking a risk as they challenge Big Tech in hearing

Open Markets Director of Enforcement Strategy Sally Hubbard spoke to The Washington Post about why smaller technology companies have not been more outspoken regarding the anti-competitive practices of larger technology companies ahead of a House Antitrust Subcommittee field hearing taking place in Colorado where smaller tech firm leaders will have an opportunity to testify. “We don’t often hear from those entrepreneurs because they can't afford to speak out, we haven’t had a look under the hood of these companies,” Hubbard said.

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ClippingsOpen MarketsFacebook, Amazon, Google, January 2020, 2020
Associated Press: Insider Q&A - Antitrust expert looks for strong enforcement
Associated Press: Insider Q&A - Antitrust expert looks for strong enforcement

Associated Press Reporter Marcy Gordon sits down and interviews Open Markets Director of Enforcement Strategy Sally Hubbard about her take on the need for greater antitrust enforcement. With the biggest tech companies under government investigation for alleged anti-competitive conduct, her analysis speaks to an issue of growing urgency.

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ClippingsOpen Markets2020, January 2020, Amazon, Google, Facebook
The New York Times: Sonos, Squeezed by the Tech Giants, Sues Google
The New York Times: Sonos, Squeezed by the Tech Giants, Sues Google

The New York Times' Jack Nicas and Daisuke Wakabayashi report that home-speaker maker Sonos said Google and Amazon stole its technology and abused their power, but it could only risk suing one. "The fear of retaliation is a real fear. Any of these companies could bury them tomorrow. Google could bury them in their search results. Amazon can bury them in their search results,” Sally Hubbard told them.

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ClippingsOpen MarketsJanuary 2020, 2020, Google, Amazon