A Johnson

@literaryeric @nickgillespie Doesn’t really change the fact that the merger shouldn’t have been blocked

Every good businessman knows that if you combine two business that are losing a billion dollars a year, the result will be no layoffs and unlimited profits for everyone.

@tommysantos14 I’m not MAGA. I’m mad because it was a stupid action taken by Biden DOJ and a poor ruling by the Reagan appointed judge. Judges often make rulings that are controversial. I’m sure I could find a few you disagree with without saying “you hate the law.”

If the Biden DOJ sued because a JetBlue/Spirit merger violated the law... And a REAGAN-APPOINTED JUDGE ruled that it, in fact, violated the law... And MAGA is big mad that Democrats didn't allow an illegal merger to happen... That means MAGA doesn't care if anything violates American law, and that should frighten you. And that is reason enough never to vote Republican again.

Sky-high aluminum tariffs + a war that knocks out Middle Eastern aluminum supplies + pissing off one of the world's largest aluminum suppliers (and your nextdoor neighbor) = inarguably one of the biggest industrial own-goals in recent memory

"Detroit carmakers warn of $5bn commodities shock due to Iran war" ft.com/content/a24a24… "its impact will be equivalent to the $6bn hit the carmakers expect from higher US tariffs" "The biggest pain point for the automotive industry has been aluminium,"

@jeffspross Right. And JetBlue should have been allowed to do this.

Guys! The Spirit-JetBlue merger plans SAID they were doing away with the Spirit-style low fare ticketing model! JetBlue wanted Spirit’s planes and routes, not its pricing strategy.

@tommysantos14 It doesn’t really matter whether it’s #1 or #2 (I think it would lean more towards 2). The merger still should not have been blocked.

You’re a multi-billion dollar airline and the budget airline that’s stealing your business is collapsing. So you decide to buy it. What do you think is the most likely outcome after the merger? 1. You buy it and leave the failing airline to operate as it is and continue the march toward insolvency. 2. Pat yourself on the back that you just eliminated a budget competitor and their lower priced fare, then pick it for parts, lay everyone off, and shut it down. MAGA wants you to believe #1 is what would have happened. The obvious and most likely scenario is #2, which is the exact same outcome as now. Don’t be like MAGA. Use your common sense instead.

@JamesSurowiecki That’s not an excuse for blocking the merger.

If JetBlue's acquisition of Spirit had been approved, there's a good chance JetBlue would now be headed into bankruptcy, too.

@SleeperChicago False

True or false? The Chicago Bulls will make the PLAYOFFS next season.

@cturnbull1968 Both things can be true

Dear MAGA Morons What do you think was more detrimental to the budget airline industry, the blocking of the Spirit/ Jet Blue merger or the the increase in jet fuel prices because of the Iran war? I’m asking because I’ve noticed you’re not saying shit about the latter.

@EllliotttB @LPInvestor Because they would have to buy everything piecemeal against other competitors. American or United may decide there are some key gate slots that they will pay extra for to keep JetBlue out.

@LPInvestor I mean, I guess yes and no, how did she not just make it cheaper for them to accomplish their goal?

I don’t understand why jet blue can’t just go hire the spirit pilots buy the spirit planes and just go buy their routes anyways

@EllliotttB I don’t understand why the government told them the couldn’t do it all at once.

@bendreyfuss Actually, so few people make minimum wage because most jobs pay more than the minimum wage.

People love to argue about the minimum wage because it’s such an easy proxy for all these other political divides but the federal minimum wage is made by like fewer than a hundred thousand people aka .1% of the workforce because states have raised it and tipped workers are exempt

@Spartan_Bubble @jackrwilkie Isn’t that every dealership’s game? That and maintenance

@jackrwilkie They buy your car, clean it and then sell it to someone else with a high interest loan attached. If they make $1,000 on the flip but $4,000 on the financing, they dont care if they overpaid you.

Sold a car to Carvana today and I have no idea how they stay in business. Inexplicable.

@neeratanden @scottlincicome Honestly what was the argument for blocking the merger? There was not a good argument at the time and it has gotten worse since.

Given the news today that Spirit Airlines is shuttering and thousands of people are losing their jobs, I think we should honestly assess whether the Garland DoJ stopping the JetBlue merger with Spirit Airlines was the right call. Perhaps it was but any analysis must consider as part of the equation the loss to so many families ro decide.

I've warned for months that a @JetBlue-@SpiritAirlines merger would have led to fewer flights and higher fares. @JusticeATR and @USDOT were right to stand up for consumers and fight against runaway airline consolidation. This is a Biden win for flyers! apnews.com/article/jetblu…

This is a colossal failure on the part of the Biden admin (and antitrust hawks generally). The government stopped Spirit from merging with JetBlue over concerns about ticket prices. So instead the low-price company will just shut down instead. A total faceplant.

@NathanJRobinson On the one hand, you have mountains of empirical evidence demonstrating rent control is terrible policy, on the other hand, you have the theoretical musings of an economist so confident in their work that he or she didn’t even put their name on the article.

@GovKathyHochul Just take away their license.

If you’re speeding over and over again, it’s not a mistake. You’re making our streets dangerous. I’ve got a plan to crack down on super-speeders and make New York City safer. Let’s get it done.

@_parody_burner @Stnhf_mikaelo @DKThomp Building more would lead to lower prices than you would have by not building more.

@Stnhf_mikaelo @DKThomp Do you think building more decreases rent?

I'm glad that the author of "Rent Control Is Fine, Actually" calls themself Unlearning Economics, bc it's good to just state things clearly, such as the open animosity that many left economic populists have for the field of economics and economists themselves. Economists aren't gods, and economics isn't a divine truth, but economists are good--better than most--at something critical for making public policy: They're good at identifying tradeoffs. "Rents are too high, so freeze them" is compelling politics. But in the absence of other pro-supply policies, if you make it illegal to increase rents, landlords will stop upgrading units and convert them to condos, which reduces the supply of units for rent, reduces mobility, and drives up rents for everybody else. The left econ populists have some clear, and clearly stated, policy ideas: - Rents are too high, so freeze them. - Electricity is expensive, so stop rate increases. - Homes are too expensive, so ban institutional investors. - Power prices are rising, so ban data center construction. ... All these policies feel like solutions because they're brisk, they name enemies, and they take on the most visible source of frustration. But they are much better as villain-naming exercises than they are as a complete public policy. On their own, each creates other problems: less housing built, less clean electricity built, abdicating energy policy by encouraging AI firms to build data centers abroad in unsavory countries with more emissions, etc. I can't think of a single economic populist idea that wouldn't be helped with a little dose of economics, which is why it's troubling when I see the left participating in, and even celebrating, the great unlearning of economics.

Huh. So, basically, the law was blocking American companies from buying/selling an essential good and was forcing those buyers to instead rely on imports?!? Huh.