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Interesting. I also read an interesting article[1] by Matt Stoller where he makes a good argument for breaking up companies like Disney for their anti-competitive behavior.

[1]: https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/its-time-to-break-up-disn...

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I've always been apprehensive towards corporate acquisitions. I mean, why try to compete when you can just buy them?

Well then another competitor will pop up. You have to still compete in some form if you don’t have a monopoly or some form of regulatory capture.

If McDonald’s started acquiring lemonade stands the moment they opened up, you’d start to see a lot of lemonade stands.

Sure but that's not really good for the consumer, that's just good for lemonade stand owners, who aren't really opening their stands to provide a competitive service, they're just looking to cash out when McDonalds buys them..

Of course it’s good. Consumers get lower prices from the opening stands. Eventually McDonald’s will need to start selling lemonade or won’t be able to afford buying all of the stands.

Larry Ellison would agree, and built a fortune based on that opinion.

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