It’s a tried and true method of Silicon Valley VCs. Produce something as a loss leader. Build a moat. Then extract rent. Not only can you stop having to produce anything of value, you can even degrade your product and people won’t be able to leave thanks to lock-in.
We wonder why the US has lost or losing competitiveness with China in most industries. Their government has focused on public investment and public ownership of natural monopolies, preventing rent extraction and keeping the costs of living lower. That means employers don’t have to pay workers as much so their businesses can be more competitive. Contrast with the US whose working class is parasitized by various forms of rent extraction - land, housing, medicine, subscription models, etc. US employers effectively finance these inefficiencies. It’s almost like the US wants to fall behind.
We wonder why the US has lost or losing competitiveness with China in most industries. Their government has focused on public investment and public ownership of natural monopolies, preventing rent extraction and keeping the costs of living lower. That means employers don’t have to pay workers as much so their businesses can be more competitive. Contrast with the US whose working class is parasitized by various forms of rent extraction - land, housing, medicine, subscription models, etc. US employers effectively finance these inefficiencies. It’s almost like the US wants to fall behind.