'The FTC has lost its way'

'The FTC is wielding fringe antitrust theories with little regard for consumers'

Bloomberg editorial board

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan is going after Amazon, says Bloomberg in an editorial, calling the online retail giant "an illegal monopoly." The FTC has filed a complaint saying Amazon uses "'far-reaching schemes' to impede competitors." But Amazon lets customers ferret out bargains, and its prices were 14% lower than its competitors last year, on average. If the FTC cares about "consumer welfare," it's hard to imagine a "worse target for government intervention." 

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'Washington's Kurdish allies have proved battle-tested friends'

Majeed Gly and David Harris in The Wall Street Journal

Iraq's autonomous Kurdish population is "a key barrier to Iran's aims" of making Iraq a satellite state, say Majeed Gly and David Harris in The Wall Street Journal. President Biden is "on the cusp" of reducing their military assistance, which "would send a clear signal to Iran" that he is serious about improving ties. But it "would be a potentially cataclysmic" error leaving "one of Washington's most reliable and trustworthy partners in the Arab world" in the cold.

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'Paying a price for the methane that cows belch'

Noah Gordon in The New Republic

The government isn't "trying to take away your burgers," as some conservatives claim, writes Noah Gordon in The New Republic. Maybe it should. A key goal of climate policy is phasing out "polluting machines" like coal-fired power plants and gas-guzzling cars. What about cows and pigs? These "biological machines" belch methane, a greenhouse gas, while transforming soybeans into "delicious bacon cheeseburgers." Yet most governments are trying to "enable people to eat more meat," not less. 

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'Pay no attention to all those complaints about how much we're spending in Ukraine'

Paul Krugman in The New York Times

Why "do MAGA politicians want to cut Ukraine off?" asks Paul Krugman in The New York Times. They cut it from the deal to avert a shutdown, arguing helping Ukraine fight Russia is too costly. Ukraine aid was a tiny part — $77 billion — of the $9 trillion Washington spent in the last 18 months. The real reason: Republican hard-liners "want Putin to win" because he has qualities they admire in their "wannabe dictator" at home.

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