Thanks to Antitrust Officials, iRobot Will Be Acquired by a Chinese Robotics Firm Instead of Amazon

“iRobot, the creator of Roomba, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday. If Amazon had been allowed to acquire the company in 2022, consumers likely would have enjoyed improved quality and lower prices. Now, thanks to antitrust regulators, iRobot will be acquired by a massive Chinese robot vacuum manufacturer, Shenzhen Picea Robotics, instead of American-owned Amazon.”

https://reason.com/2025/12/17/thanks-to-antitrust-officials-irobot-will-be-acquired-by-a-chinese-robotics-firm-instead-of-amazon/

Zohran Mamdani’s $5 Billion Corporate Tax Hike Threatens NYC’s Status as the World’s Financial Capital

“He’s planning to pay for these proposals with various tax hikes, including a large jump in the city’s corporate tax rate from 7.5 percent to 11.5 percent.

Unfortunately, raising the corporate tax rate could also hinder the job market, cause corporations to relocate, and decrease long-term government revenue, potentially damaging New York’s status as the financial capital of the world.

Corporations hit with higher tax rates would seek ways to cut costs, possibly harming workers through either layoffs or lower wages.

In the United Kingdom, for example, around one in six British companies cut hiring in the fourth quarter of 2024 in anticipation of tax hikes that took place in April 2025. If New York employees aren’t directly laid off, they could face lower wages in the long run.

Already, the exodus of banks from Wall Street to corporate tax havens, such as Elliot Management’s relocation to Florida, has cost the city millions in managed assets. New York City simply cannot afford to watch other businesses follow.

“”Businesses have only three options to pay for higher taxes: raise prices; reduce costs; or lower returns to investors,” as the authors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce report wrote. “In reality, they do all three.” The fourth option, one even more feasible if a tax hike only hits New York City, is that businesses will flee.”

https://reason.com/2025/10/31/zohran-mamdanis-5-billion-corporate-tax-hike-threatens-nycs-status-as-the-worlds-financial-capital/

Why do people get paid to invest their money?

Another reason investors deserve their income is that by having a system where corporations work toward the goal of increasing investor return, they have the incentive to be productive. So indirectly, by taking part in such a system, investors produce things with their money.

https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/why-do-people-get-paid-to-invest?r=1o36hf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

Trump’s Plans for Intel Take a Page From Bernie Sanders’ Playbook

“The Trump administration is seeking a 10 percent stake in Intel, Bloomberg reported this week, which would involve converting some or all of the company’s CHIPS Act grants into equity in the company. The exact terms of the deal remain unclear”

https://reason.com/2025/08/19/trumps-plans-for-intel-take-a-page-from-bernie-sanders-playbook/

Jon Stewart Reacts to Colbert’s Cancellation & Trump’s “Bawdy” Epstein Doodles | The Daily Show

Jon Stewart Reacts to Colbert’s Cancellation & Trump’s “Bawdy” Epstein Doodles | The Daily Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwOLo_U6bTw

Kroger-Albertsons Merger Halted by the Federal Trade Commission

“The FTC’s stated motivation for challenging the merger was to avoid “higher prices for groceries and other essential household items for millions of Americans.””

“Kroger and Albertsons would still only account for 9 percent of overall grocery sales, as C. Jarrett Dieterle has noted in Reason, belying the FTC’s concerns that the merger would grant them significant market power. The FTC’s overly narrow definition of the grocery market is the actual cause of concern: The Commission’s definition includes traditional supermarkets and “hypermarkets” like Walmart and Target, but excludes Amazon and Costco, the second and third largest grocery retailers, respectively.

Considering Kroger’s and Albertsons’ single-digit shares of the properly defined market, and competition from other grocers not recognized by the FTC, the merger was more likely to save Albertsons from insolvency, not afford them enough market power to increase prices. Kroger and Albertsons projected the merger would create $500 million in cost savings—at least some of which would be passed onto consumers. The pair also planned to invest $1.3 billion to improve customer service, according to Nate Scherer, a policy analyst with the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit research institute dedicated to the promotion of consumer welfare.”

https://reason.com/2024/12/12/kroger-albertsons-merger-halted-by-the-federal-trade-commission/