1
00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:04,120
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Bloomberg Markets Podcast. I'm Paul Sweeney, along

2
00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:06,200
Speaker 1: with my co host of Bonnie Quinn. Every business day

3
00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:10,360
Speaker 1: we bring you interviews from CEOs, market pros, and Bloomberg experts,

4
00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,600
Speaker 1: along with essential market moving news. Find the Bloomberg Markets

5
00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,000
Speaker 1: Podcast on Apple podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts,

6
00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:22,400
Speaker 1: and on Bloomberg dot Com. It is time for Bloomberg Opinion,

7
00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:25,680
Speaker 1: and I'm excited now to welcome our next guest, Admiral

8
00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:29,600
Speaker 1: James Stabrita's retired Navy admiral, former military commando of NATO

9
00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:35,040
Speaker 1: and of course Bloomberg Opinion columnist. Admiral what is the

10
00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:37,200
Speaker 1: thing that most keeps you up at night right now?

11
00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:40,360
Speaker 1: I mean there's a plethora smore gas board if you like,

12
00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,000
Speaker 1: things that I'm sure bother you and questions that you're

13
00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,800
Speaker 1: trying to answer. But the particular one right now as

14
00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:51,280
Speaker 1: we are, what three weeks out from the election, First

15
00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:56,560
Speaker 1: and foremost, it's the distinct possibility of real turbulence domestically

16
00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,280
Speaker 1: here in the United States after the election, and let's

17
00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:04,480
Speaker 1: hope for a clean win on election eve, but I

18
00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:08,440
Speaker 1: think that's unlikely and therefore there'll be court challenges and

19
00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:11,120
Speaker 1: so what worries me, Vonnie and keeps me awake at

20
00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:13,440
Speaker 1: night at the moment, and the things I worry about

21
00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,959
Speaker 1: in the international sphere is that an opponent might take

22
00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:22,520
Speaker 1: advantage of this period of weeks or even months of turbulence.

23
00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:26,319
Speaker 1: I think it will resolve by inauguration day one where

24
00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:28,680
Speaker 1: or the other. But you could see China making a

25
00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,880
Speaker 1: move on Taiwan. You could see Iran doing something in

26
00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,480
Speaker 1: the Arabian Gulf. You could see North Korea rattle a

27
00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:37,759
Speaker 1: saber as they did just a couple of days ago,

28
00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:41,720
Speaker 1: rolling out a new I CBM. So that sense of

29
00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,640
Speaker 1: potential turbulence in the near term is the first thing

30
00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,760
Speaker 1: I worry about, and the second one, less obvious, is

31
00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,880
Speaker 1: cyber um. We have moved so many things into the

32
00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:55,880
Speaker 1: cyber world, Vanni. I am concerned that our opponents might

33
00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,520
Speaker 1: take advantage of that. And if you merge those two

34
00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:04,320
Speaker 1: things together, concern about cyber and that turbulence after the election,

35
00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:07,400
Speaker 1: I think we're headed into a period of vulnerability. That's

36
00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,119
Speaker 1: what keeps me awake at night right now. Why wouldn't

37
00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,680
Speaker 1: those opponents take advantage, Admiral, Can you give us reasons

38
00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:16,919
Speaker 1: why it would not be in their interest to do thus,

39
00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,239
Speaker 1: because long term, uh, the United States will come out

40
00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:27,360
Speaker 1: of this period capable, ready to respond. We have the

41
00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:31,160
Speaker 1: most capable military in the world, so we have military deterres.

42
00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,400
Speaker 1: We still have the strongest economy in the world. It

43
00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:36,960
Speaker 1: will come out somewhat battered, as I don't need to

44
00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,280
Speaker 1: tell a blue Berg columnist, and China is having a

45
00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:44,040
Speaker 1: better swifter recovery. But I wouldn't bet against the United

46
00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,079
Speaker 1: States in the long term. So I think our opponents

47
00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,560
Speaker 1: are smart enough. I hope to realize that we have

48
00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:54,440
Speaker 1: the military capability, we have the economic kept and lastly,

49
00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:57,560
Speaker 1: we have that network of allies, partners and friends around

50
00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:01,400
Speaker 1: the world. I think it would be foolish for China

51
00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:03,000
Speaker 1: to make a move. I think it would be a

52
00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,800
Speaker 1: mistake for Iran to do so, or Russia. But you

53
00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:11,480
Speaker 1: still have to account for and pay attention to that possibility.

54
00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:17,040
Speaker 1: What's the apparatus that's already up and running that these

55
00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:19,560
Speaker 1: countries would have to tamp down in order to sort

56
00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:24,040
Speaker 1: of comply with international accepted practices. Pre election, I mean,

57
00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,960
Speaker 1: we already know that China and Russia have huge troll farms,

58
00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,359
Speaker 1: and you know, a huge apporatus basically designed to interfere

59
00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:33,720
Speaker 1: in any election all over the world should they wish to.

60
00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:37,400
Speaker 1: Is there any evidence to suggest that they might tamp

61
00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:41,960
Speaker 1: that down. I don't think so, because at the end

62
00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:44,920
Speaker 1: of the day, there's this sort of sense that, oh,

63
00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:49,240
Speaker 1: the Russians and the Chinese are working to reelect Donald Trump.

64
00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:51,800
Speaker 1: I don't think that's quite right. I think what the

65
00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:54,240
Speaker 1: Russians in the Chinese are doing is to try and

66
00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:58,680
Speaker 1: create real divisions in American society, and they will do

67
00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:03,840
Speaker 1: that as you a, using social media, primarily, but also

68
00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,760
Speaker 1: using actual incidents. I think as we get closer to

69
00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,800
Speaker 1: the election, I could foresee, for example, a false flag

70
00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:17,760
Speaker 1: operation where hundreds of ballots are suddenly discovered in a dumpster.

71
00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,279
Speaker 1: It's entirely possible a physical act like that could be

72
00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,640
Speaker 1: undertaken by our opponents, as well as all the social

73
00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,039
Speaker 1: network problems that you've just addressed, and no, there are

74
00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:33,240
Speaker 1: no international sanctions that can be applied uniformly. That's why

75
00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:36,880
Speaker 1: it's important that the United States and clear signals to

76
00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:41,000
Speaker 1: these nations that we will respond in the moment, will

77
00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,359
Speaker 1: defend better, and we will also respond potentially after the

78
00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:48,479
Speaker 1: election when we sort out what has happened, and then

79
00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,680
Speaker 1: take action in the cyber world against those who have

80
00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:54,760
Speaker 1: attacked US. Now, Admiral Cebidas, you have a great column

81
00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:57,640
Speaker 1: out on the Boomberg today. COVID commission is crucial for

82
00:04:57,720 --> 00:04:59,840
Speaker 1: a US recovery. You say, an investigation of the p

83
00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:04,039
Speaker 1: that makes it into scientists, doctors, and gasp, a big

84
00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:08,479
Speaker 1: pharma executive explained to us, you know who might put

85
00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:10,800
Speaker 1: this together given that we're not quite sure who will

86
00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,679
Speaker 1: be leading the country. There's a lane doc session at

87
00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,800
Speaker 1: some point, and then there'll be, you know, either another

88
00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:20,480
Speaker 1: four years with President Trump or four years with President Biden.

89
00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:25,560
Speaker 1: So what how would this work? Well, let's look at history.

90
00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:30,960
Speaker 1: Um After Pearl Harbor, where hundred Americans shockingly died on

91
00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:35,200
Speaker 1: December seven, there was a national commission set up by

92
00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:39,160
Speaker 1: the Congress. After the nine eleven events where three thousand

93
00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:43,120
Speaker 1: Americans died, there was a national commission set up by

94
00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:45,760
Speaker 1: the Congress. I think we're going to see the same thing.

95
00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:50,080
Speaker 1: We're now at two hundred fifteen thousand Americans dead, probably

96
00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:54,080
Speaker 1: by inauguration will be north of three hundred thousand. Most

97
00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:58,120
Speaker 1: observers think, so there has to be accountability. We have

98
00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,040
Speaker 1: to look back and see how did this happen, just

99
00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:02,960
Speaker 1: like we did at Pearl Harbor, just like we did

100
00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:05,120
Speaker 1: at kind of eleven. And more importantly, we've got to

101
00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,480
Speaker 1: look forward so that it never happens again. What are

102
00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:12,360
Speaker 1: the practical things we need to do to prepare ourselves

103
00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,400
Speaker 1: for this so how it would happen? And I think

104
00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:21,599
Speaker 1: this will happen. Whoever is in office after January will

105
00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:25,159
Speaker 1: be a congressional push because all of us, all of

106
00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,960
Speaker 1: us who are American citizens, are to demand that our

107
00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:33,760
Speaker 1: national government focus on this. And the Congress is very

108
00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,760
Speaker 1: well equipped with the tools to do this. They could

109
00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:40,279
Speaker 1: appoint to leaders to set it up. You pick about

110
00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:43,480
Speaker 1: a dozen commissioners I lay out in the article, uh

111
00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,719
Speaker 1: some ideas for what it would look like, and you

112
00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,080
Speaker 1: give them. You know this won't be instant work. You

113
00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,520
Speaker 1: give them about two years to put this together. The

114
00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:55,880
Speaker 1: Pearl Harbor Commission took five, Eleven took three. I think

115
00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,520
Speaker 1: we can do this in two years. It will be

116
00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:03,640
Speaker 1: perhaps the significant such commission American history. You've got to

117
00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:07,200
Speaker 1: do it all right, well, I imagine it's coming at

118
00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:09,440
Speaker 1: some point and our thanks to you, it's a mustery

119
00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:13,880
Speaker 1: today COVID commission crucial for US recovery. Retired Admiral James

120
00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:19,440
Speaker 1: Stabida's former NATO military commander, it is time now to

121
00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:21,240
Speaker 1: have a look at a big tech. Of course, big

122
00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:23,880
Speaker 1: tech has been dominating markets basically, even if it hasn't

123
00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:28,960
Speaker 1: been dominating casual conversation outside of markets. But certainly that

124
00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,160
Speaker 1: might start to change once we start to get Congress

125
00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,280
Speaker 1: looking into the regulation of big tech. Let's bring in

126
00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:39,760
Speaker 1: Mark Douglas, who CEO of Steel House. He is currently

127
00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,680
Speaker 1: in Istanbul, but he is based generally in s in

128
00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:45,960
Speaker 1: l A. So Mark, thank you so much for joining.

129
00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:48,400
Speaker 1: First of all, talked to us about Istanbul. What's it

130
00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:53,440
Speaker 1: like at the moment um. It's bustling, So it's the

131
00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:56,920
Speaker 1: weather is great and there are a ton of people

132
00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:01,160
Speaker 1: on the street. Everyone's wearing masks and the feels great.

133
00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:03,720
Speaker 1: I've been traveling all over the world during COVID, so

134
00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,440
Speaker 1: that I got here two days ago. Yeah, it's pretty

135
00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,720
Speaker 1: amazing how the Eastern European countries are treating this slightly

136
00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,000
Speaker 1: differently from some of the rest of the countries in

137
00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,920
Speaker 1: the world. And uh, you know, Turkey would be sort

138
00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,040
Speaker 1: of a little bit in that group. So talk to

139
00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:21,040
Speaker 1: us about regulating big tech and what you anticipate will

140
00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:23,320
Speaker 1: see over the next few days two weeks in Congress.

141
00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:25,480
Speaker 1: I mean, we're in a sort of strange period where

142
00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:28,680
Speaker 1: you know, senators are up for re election, we're obviously

143
00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:32,160
Speaker 1: re electing a president or electing a president, and there's

144
00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:33,800
Speaker 1: a lot of uncertainty. Is it the best time to

145
00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:39,079
Speaker 1: be doing this? Well, I think the reasons they're doing

146
00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:44,800
Speaker 1: it are legitimate. I mean, these large companies Apple, Amazon, Google,

147
00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:49,000
Speaker 1: and Facebook and maybe even a few others, they legitimately

148
00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:51,880
Speaker 1: do have monopoly power. I think Apple is kind of

149
00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,800
Speaker 1: trying to fly a bit under the radar, but um,

150
00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:57,720
Speaker 1: they have probably the biggest monopoly, which is the app

151
00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,040
Speaker 1: store and the thirty percent fee that they charge, and

152
00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:05,840
Speaker 1: a complete monopoly on getting apps on into your iOS devices.

153
00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,199
Speaker 1: But I think all these companies are vulnerable, and I

154
00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:12,000
Speaker 1: think it's it's legitimate to kind of investigate them and

155
00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,640
Speaker 1: try to find solutions that ultimately create more competition and

156
00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,840
Speaker 1: are better for consumers in the long term. Who's most

157
00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:23,720
Speaker 1: at risk of having to change what they're doing? So

158
00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:26,840
Speaker 1: maybe you know, breaking off the piece or you know,

159
00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:31,440
Speaker 1: spinning off a piece. Yeah, I think Apple is. So

160
00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:34,560
Speaker 1: when you look at someone like Amazon and Google, I

161
00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:38,319
Speaker 1: think the big complaints are mainly about their search results.

162
00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:41,960
Speaker 1: Amazon when you go shopping, and Google obviously with Google Search.

163
00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:46,120
Speaker 1: But Apple's entire business model that them breaking the two

164
00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,960
Speaker 1: trillion dollar mark in market gap is essentially based on

165
00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:54,360
Speaker 1: them having a complete monopoly on um what gets on

166
00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:57,120
Speaker 1: your onto your iPhone and the and the things they charge.

167
00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,600
Speaker 1: And if if the US kind of the as government

168
00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:02,920
Speaker 1: kind of interferes with them, it's gonna take some time.

169
00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:05,920
Speaker 1: I think that kind of really starts at disrupted the

170
00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,080
Speaker 1: heart of their business model, which was has been driving

171
00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,280
Speaker 1: their market cap. They'll obviously survive, they may have to

172
00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:15,120
Speaker 1: charge lower fees, but that and you look at bundles

173
00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,280
Speaker 1: they're introducing, like Apple One, the Apple one bundle, which

174
00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:20,760
Speaker 1: is basically you know whether you watch it, read it,

175
00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:25,760
Speaker 1: listen to it, yet they them or or now Apple

176
00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:29,240
Speaker 1: Fitness is part of that bundle like that could potentially

177
00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:32,120
Speaker 1: get attacked also by the US government, So so they

178
00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:36,640
Speaker 1: are I think the most vulnerable. What's for the senator is,

179
00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,120
Speaker 1: I mean, don't all senators want to keep big tech

180
00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:43,520
Speaker 1: on site in some way? Well, I mean the it's

181
00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:45,719
Speaker 1: a big driver for the US economy. So on the

182
00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:49,320
Speaker 1: one hand, you want to keep um, these big companies

183
00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,880
Speaker 1: who are create a lot of jobs and generate UM

184
00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:55,960
Speaker 1: a lot you wanna Essentially you don't want to really

185
00:10:56,040 --> 00:11:00,280
Speaker 1: harm them and allow competition from outside of the United States. Um,

186
00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:04,040
Speaker 1: if you're kind of like a pro America first type

187
00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:08,640
Speaker 1: type senator. But I mean it's it's legitimate concerns. I

188
00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,679
Speaker 1: think ultimately tech is an easy target everyone. It's a

189
00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:15,880
Speaker 1: like do nothing right type environment right now, especially with

190
00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:18,839
Speaker 1: the topic of censorship and what should be allowed on

191
00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:22,800
Speaker 1: social media, talking about Facebook and Instagram and what shouldn't

192
00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:25,240
Speaker 1: be allowed. So you know, with that bigger talk topic,

193
00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:27,920
Speaker 1: that bigger target and a lot of people being kind

194
00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:30,599
Speaker 1: of angry at social media, I mean, it's easy to

195
00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:33,800
Speaker 1: join their bandwagon and and try to leverage it to

196
00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:38,320
Speaker 1: create a kind of populist sentiment towards your candidacy. I mean,

197
00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:41,320
Speaker 1: you sort of got the impression that no matter what happens,

198
00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:43,880
Speaker 1: these talks are going to keep going higher anyway. Um,

199
00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:48,160
Speaker 1: nothing has dented them up to now. What's your sense

200
00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:50,960
Speaker 1: of where they go on I'm talking about basically Apple

201
00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:55,079
Speaker 1: and Alphabet I guess yeah, I think well, I think

202
00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:58,839
Speaker 1: Amazon is by far the biggest. Apple used to be

203
00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:02,880
Speaker 1: the biggest innovator. Um. I think people think of Apple

204
00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:05,720
Speaker 1: as an innovator now, but the last real product they

205
00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:09,079
Speaker 1: introduced that had any level of success with the Apple

206
00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:12,640
Speaker 1: Watching two thousand fourteen. Now it's just cycles of evolution

207
00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:16,600
Speaker 1: rather than you know, something really innovative. But um, Amazon

208
00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:21,400
Speaker 1: continues to be the big innovator with the success they've

209
00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:24,400
Speaker 1: had with the Echo and a lot of the acquisitions

210
00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:27,839
Speaker 1: that they've done. So I think, UM, I I think

211
00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:32,000
Speaker 1: ultimately Amazon is you know, kind of retakes the top

212
00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:35,679
Speaker 1: spot as the most valuable company, and the others are

213
00:12:35,679 --> 00:12:39,120
Speaker 1: playing catch up. Google is kind of being attacked from

214
00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:43,280
Speaker 1: all sides, um again by Amazon. In terms of Amazon's

215
00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:47,800
Speaker 1: app business, Um, that search business is obviously like they

216
00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:51,880
Speaker 1: have no competition basically worldwide except for China with the

217
00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:55,839
Speaker 1: search business. So I think, UM, I don't think they will.

218
00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,520
Speaker 1: They're not as vulnerable as as someone like Apple is,

219
00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,920
Speaker 1: and may be to a lesser extent Amazon. Speaking of Apple,

220
00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,400
Speaker 1: we have, of course a big event tomorrow. There's a

221
00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:10,320
Speaker 1: lot going on tomorrow, including some enemy Cony Barrett hearings

222
00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,040
Speaker 1: on the Hill. But at the same time, and a

223
00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:14,959
Speaker 1: lot of people will be looking at Apple's launch and

224
00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:17,400
Speaker 1: we're meant to get some more phones. What do you

225
00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:19,600
Speaker 1: think is going to happen? Mark? What have you heard?

226
00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:24,920
Speaker 1: And will people upgrade? Yeah? So the Apple twelve is

227
00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:27,280
Speaker 1: the big announcement. I think there's no secret on that.

228
00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:31,439
Speaker 1: The probably the most innovative thing coming out of the

229
00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:34,440
Speaker 1: Apple twelve announcement is the strong rumors that there's going

230
00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:37,600
Speaker 1: to be a new Apple Mini and which will bring

231
00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:42,400
Speaker 1: the price point down to essentially half. Remember when Apple

232
00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:46,200
Speaker 1: introduced the Apple X, everyone was complaining about how expensive

233
00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,480
Speaker 1: it was. I mean, the phone costs more than like

234
00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:53,240
Speaker 1: Apple's lowering computer. And so now they're introducing a phone

235
00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:55,680
Speaker 1: at half the price point. And what's really interesting about

236
00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,880
Speaker 1: that think really key to watch is Apple is a

237
00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,120
Speaker 1: lot of their profit is increasingly coming from the services,

238
00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:06,400
Speaker 1: and so the Apple One bundle on an Apple Mini,

239
00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:10,120
Speaker 1: I think the Apple wants a subscription from every household

240
00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,920
Speaker 1: essentially in the world, and so they are bringing down

241
00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:16,720
Speaker 1: the price point to their products in order to get

242
00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:21,440
Speaker 1: to encourage more people to get an Apple one subscription.

243
00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:25,120
Speaker 1: And also with Apple Fitness Plus, which hasn't been launched yet,

244
00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:29,200
Speaker 1: I mean, they're now going after Peloton and other fitness companies.

245
00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:32,560
Speaker 1: So it's all about that kind of ongoing revenue stream

246
00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:35,360
Speaker 1: after you buy the device. So it's a really smart

247
00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:38,760
Speaker 1: move to bring low, low priced iPhone, current model, low

248
00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:43,120
Speaker 1: price iPhone and then essentially make hundreds of dollars a

249
00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,640
Speaker 1: year more in the monthly subscription fees that you're gonna

250
00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:49,320
Speaker 1: pay for for all forms of entertainment and business that

251
00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,320
Speaker 1: that they want you to beg Mark, we're out of time.

252
00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:55,000
Speaker 1: But is it a wild success even in pandemic times?

253
00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:59,040
Speaker 1: Say that question one of my time. I comminue people

254
00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:03,520
Speaker 1: buy it even when cash is low in pandemic times. Um,

255
00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:06,120
Speaker 1: I don't think the I think the example twelves are

256
00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:08,000
Speaker 1: a bit of a diet. I mean, they were introducing

257
00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,920
Speaker 1: five G but essentially a lot of people seem to

258
00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:14,480
Speaker 1: be the pole. The polling is saying that people want

259
00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:16,359
Speaker 1: to buy them, So I guess they're going to be successful.

260
00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:19,480
Speaker 1: All right, thank you so much for joining us. Mark

261
00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:23,280
Speaker 1: Douglas is a CEO of Steel House. Let's see tomorrow

262
00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:26,960
Speaker 1: what actually emerges from that Apple event. We appreciate Mark's

263
00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:32,280
Speaker 1: time today. All right, it is time now to get

264
00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:35,600
Speaker 1: to one of our old chestnuts. Bill Smeade, always love

265
00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:37,840
Speaker 1: having you on the program. Bill Smide is CEO and

266
00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:41,640
Speaker 1: CIO of Smade Capital Management, and Bill, I'm sure you

267
00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:44,920
Speaker 1: have varying opinions on everything that's happening this week. Having

268
00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,120
Speaker 1: been in the market so long, what is the one

269
00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:51,680
Speaker 1: thing that markets will concentrate on this week? Well, thanks

270
00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:57,720
Speaker 1: for having us, Monny. The the markets are concentrating on

271
00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:04,480
Speaker 1: um what I call COVID misery investments, and they are

272
00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:12,520
Speaker 1: exacerbating a trend of concentrating capital in the vast monopoly

273
00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:17,400
Speaker 1: UH companies, and they just doesn't seem to be any

274
00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:21,400
Speaker 1: end to the urge on the part of investors to

275
00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:26,880
Speaker 1: uh extrapolate what is going on far out into the future.

276
00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:31,560
Speaker 1: So Bill, I mean, I know that you invest slightly

277
00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:33,760
Speaker 1: differently to sort of watching the day to day news

278
00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:37,400
Speaker 1: headlines anyway, as do the same you know, most investors

279
00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:39,320
Speaker 1: for the long haul. But at the same time, you

280
00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,640
Speaker 1: have to wonder which of these macro events could really

281
00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:48,320
Speaker 1: change the dynamic in the market. Is there one out there? Well, Actually,

282
00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:53,720
Speaker 1: what happens is below the surface economics actually do change.

283
00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:58,560
Speaker 1: So for example, you would expect stock prices to peak

284
00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,800
Speaker 1: at the point where the prospects for the industry appear

285
00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,960
Speaker 1: to people to be the most favorable. And with all

286
00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:10,800
Speaker 1: of people being afraid of catching COVID and kind of

287
00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:16,000
Speaker 1: self quarantining, the reliance on the large tech companies will

288
00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:19,040
Speaker 1: probably never be higher, I would guess, than at this

289
00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:21,280
Speaker 1: moment in time. So it only makes sense that those

290
00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:25,520
Speaker 1: stocks are very high right now because the prospects for

291
00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,399
Speaker 1: their profits due to the current circumstances. But at the

292
00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:33,640
Speaker 1: same time that's going on, it also lays the groundwork

293
00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:37,520
Speaker 1: for superior economics in other areas where the stock prices

294
00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:40,560
Speaker 1: are extremely low. And that's our job is to to

295
00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,679
Speaker 1: figure out where economics are very favorable and then uh

296
00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:49,840
Speaker 1: and then adjust appropriately. Have you making any adjustments? We are,

297
00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:54,960
Speaker 1: and it's just painful, Vinnie. We are tacking away from

298
00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:57,400
Speaker 1: investments that we've made in the last three to ten

299
00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:01,240
Speaker 1: years that are becoming too popular because of how popular

300
00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:04,920
Speaker 1: growth stocks are. We're taking money from there and applying

301
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:09,560
Speaker 1: it to favorable economics in places like energy, in places

302
00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:13,560
Speaker 1: like uh real estate and and by the way, that's

303
00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:17,240
Speaker 1: the two worst performing sectors today, so you know and

304
00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:20,960
Speaker 1: and uh so I'll give you one example. It was

305
00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:25,919
Speaker 1: announced that Warren Buffett's lieutenant Ted Wessler now owns almost

306
00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:29,440
Speaker 1: six percent of Dillard's department stores, and the stock has

307
00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:35,520
Speaker 1: soared today thirty. Uh. Well, we own two companies that

308
00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:40,600
Speaker 1: are landlords to Dillard's. So if he if he likes Dillard's,

309
00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:43,399
Speaker 1: he'd probably like the landlords, and that would be Simon

310
00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:46,560
Speaker 1: Properties and mace Rich. Just in the Phoenix Valley where

311
00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:50,840
Speaker 1: I am, there are seven dillard stores at seven separate

312
00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:54,560
Speaker 1: mace Rich properties, and uh I counted, I think Simon

313
00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:59,360
Speaker 1: has seventeen dillard stores. So while they're really excited about Dillard's,

314
00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,159
Speaker 1: they aspies their landlords, and I would suggest that the

315
00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:07,359
Speaker 1: two should go in tandem. Well, explain that to me,

316
00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:09,600
Speaker 1: because I've just been looking at mass Ridge and Simon

317
00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:12,000
Speaker 1: Poverty Group and obviously the stocks you know, plummeted and

318
00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:14,920
Speaker 1: march and they haven't really recovered since. And I think

319
00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:18,320
Speaker 1: the question is okay. So Dillard's might be okay, and

320
00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:19,840
Speaker 1: Dillards might be able to pay his rent, but what

321
00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:22,320
Speaker 1: about all of the other tenants. Why are you still

322
00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:27,240
Speaker 1: bullish on these real estate companies? Well, first of all,

323
00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:33,720
Speaker 1: they are very close to uh most American population, and

324
00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:38,280
Speaker 1: so there's two possibilities here. One is that two or

325
00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:44,000
Speaker 1: three years from now, the virus is gone, vaccinations are enforced,

326
00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,520
Speaker 1: and cures or whoever had it have come to pass,

327
00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:52,040
Speaker 1: and then people go back to something that's a new normal,

328
00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,520
Speaker 1: but but closer to the way we used to live.

329
00:19:56,080 --> 00:20:00,600
Speaker 1: And under that environment, these people own very attractive property

330
00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:08,639
Speaker 1: in some of the most attractive places in the United States, uh, Florida, Texas, California, Arizona.

331
00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:11,600
Speaker 1: That that's where people are moving, uh to the sun

332
00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,320
Speaker 1: Belt and and that's that's where they own a lot

333
00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:20,440
Speaker 1: of properties. And uh So the answer is, um, this

334
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:22,719
Speaker 1: idea that we're all just going to huddle in our

335
00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:26,000
Speaker 1: house and do nothing for the next five years and

336
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:28,680
Speaker 1: spend all of our money and never leave the house,

337
00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:33,040
Speaker 1: and spend all of our time on on electronic devices

338
00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:36,480
Speaker 1: and be anti social. I just think it's it's it's

339
00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:40,520
Speaker 1: highly unlikely it's worth making some investments with a very

340
00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:44,080
Speaker 1: high reward potential that the risk has been taken out

341
00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:48,160
Speaker 1: by depressed prices. All right, Bill, thank you so much.

342
00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:52,800
Speaker 1: Bill Smead is CEO and c IO of Sneed Capital Management.

343
00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,400
Speaker 1: Until they're talking about some of the real estate companies

344
00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,480
Speaker 1: and It's really interesting to hear the different opinions on

345
00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:00,880
Speaker 1: on this, because of course you get those that same

346
00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:03,200
Speaker 1: malls are dead, and you get those that say no,

347
00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:04,840
Speaker 1: I mean, they might be in a little bit of

348
00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,320
Speaker 1: a lull period, but at some point we'll have to

349
00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:09,680
Speaker 1: get back to something akin to the life that we

350
00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:16,040
Speaker 1: had been living. All right, and this portion of Bloomberg

351
00:21:16,119 --> 00:21:19,720
Speaker 1: markets now concentrating on big tech and break up potentially

352
00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:23,080
Speaker 1: in the future. Let's bring in Steven Strauss, who joins

353
00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,840
Speaker 1: US from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and

354
00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:30,520
Speaker 1: International Affairs, where he is a visiting professor. Stephen, you know,

355
00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:32,840
Speaker 1: you're a sort of ahead of the game on this,

356
00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:38,040
Speaker 1: but the US is a little more let's say, wide reaching.

357
00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:40,800
Speaker 1: I mean, the US could actually mandate for these companies

358
00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:43,800
Speaker 1: to start breaking themselves apart. Do you see that even

359
00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:48,639
Speaker 1: potentially happening. It's going to be a long where um

360
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,960
Speaker 1: if if history is any guy, I looked up some

361
00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:55,879
Speaker 1: of the numbers. Breaking up Stairard Oil was about corny

362
00:21:55,960 --> 00:22:00,320
Speaker 1: year process. The IBM anti trust litigation like years. The

363
00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:03,720
Speaker 1: A T and T anti trust litigation went about ten years,

364
00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,560
Speaker 1: and Microsoft anti trust went about ten years, and particularly

365
00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:10,800
Speaker 1: in the technology sector, it's not standing still. I mean

366
00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:13,520
Speaker 1: there have been some rueful jokes at by the time,

367
00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:18,439
Speaker 1: particularly the Microsoft IBM cases were settled, the original basis

368
00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:24,840
Speaker 1: for the cases were essentially irrelevant. That's actually quite stunning.

369
00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,320
Speaker 1: I mean, that's really really stunning. Is that a testament

370
00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:29,959
Speaker 1: to the ability of these companies to put up a defense,

371
00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:31,880
Speaker 1: an argument for how they should be how they are?

372
00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:36,480
Speaker 1: And if that's the case, are we looking at something similar? Um,

373
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,800
Speaker 1: it's certainly a comment on you know, these companies can

374
00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:43,639
Speaker 1: afford the best lawyers in the world. Um. You know,

375
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,760
Speaker 1: the American legal system has many virtue speed is not

376
00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:50,280
Speaker 1: necessarily among them. So I mean think about the process.

377
00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:53,920
Speaker 1: First there's the trial and the court. Whoever loses will

378
00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:56,840
Speaker 1: appeal it. Then there's another round of appeals. I mean,

379
00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:00,600
Speaker 1: it just it can go on for a very long time. Again,

380
00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:04,160
Speaker 1: past performance is not a necessarily a predictor of future results,

381
00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:09,359
Speaker 1: but looking at the historical record, and it was a

382
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,720
Speaker 1: side point, there's a general feeling that to really take

383
00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:15,080
Speaker 1: on these companies there may need some changes to the legislation.

384
00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:17,959
Speaker 1: So that's going to have to get through Congress. Okay,

385
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,119
Speaker 1: when you say the legislation of what legislation exactly are

386
00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:25,560
Speaker 1: we talking about. Well, the antitrust legislation we currently have

387
00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:29,720
Speaker 1: on the books, you know, originally dates the nineteenth century.

388
00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:33,879
Speaker 1: It was last updated during the nineteen seventies. Uh So,

389
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:37,200
Speaker 1: for example, one of the things that the House is suggesting,

390
00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:41,840
Speaker 1: he's rewriting the antitrust laws so that if they're unfairly

391
00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,320
Speaker 1: treating their suppliers, they're kind of crushing their suppliers, it

392
00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:47,959
Speaker 1: will easier, it'll be easier to take action against them.

393
00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:52,200
Speaker 1: Most of antitrust at this point is oriented towards are

394
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,280
Speaker 1: consumers being heard. Whereas the issue with Amazon, for example,

395
00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:58,320
Speaker 1: is there's a strong argument that what it's doing is

396
00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:03,000
Speaker 1: harming its suppliers. Um, you did so for a lot

397
00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,720
Speaker 1: of different reasons. Um, you know, they'd like to change

398
00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:11,720
Speaker 1: the laws on Facebook. Other companies can't buy without proving

399
00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:15,920
Speaker 1: that doing so well enhanced competition and health consumers. Yeah,

400
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:21,119
Speaker 1: so there's certainly possibility of action under interesting law. I mean,

401
00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:25,840
Speaker 1: Google's market share and search is something like which and

402
00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:30,640
Speaker 1: which certainly presents an antitrust issue. And indeed, rumor mill

403
00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:32,600
Speaker 1: I think more than rumor mill. At this point, the

404
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,040
Speaker 1: Department of justice is looked. Justice is looking at initiating

405
00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:42,640
Speaker 1: a antitrust action against Google. Yeah, I mean these companies,

406
00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,040
Speaker 1: do they have a plan B in case they're forced

407
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,639
Speaker 1: or are they just you know, do they have that

408
00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,240
Speaker 1: little humility that they're not even thinking that they might

409
00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,480
Speaker 1: be forced? Well, I mean it depends. I mean, it's

410
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,080
Speaker 1: a question. It's a smart movie. One maneuver on their

411
00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:58,080
Speaker 1: part might be thinking about, Look, we don't want ten

412
00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:02,560
Speaker 1: years of litigation, is or something relatively straightforward we can do.

413
00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:06,879
Speaker 1: But honestly, from their point of view, given that, you know,

414
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,119
Speaker 1: I'm assuming their lawyers are pointing out to them that

415
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,320
Speaker 1: litigation is a process, there's gonna be years before any

416
00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:15,040
Speaker 1: of the settles. I'm not sure I would be making

417
00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,920
Speaker 1: any major plans to split up. Um, they might be

418
00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:23,639
Speaker 1: making plans to be better, nicer competitors while you're in litigation.

419
00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:26,440
Speaker 1: Probably the last thing you want to be do, want

420
00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:29,560
Speaker 1: to be seen doing, is something that's viewed as anti competitive.

421
00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:33,480
Speaker 1: People tend to get Microsoft partially got its big start

422
00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:37,200
Speaker 1: because IBM was in the middle of antitrust litigation and

423
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:39,840
Speaker 1: wanted to be seen as being friendly to a smaller

424
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:44,400
Speaker 1: software company. Are there any precedents here when it comes

425
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:50,119
Speaker 1: to you know, the law. Well, I mean in what

426
00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:52,679
Speaker 1: sense to mean precedence. I mean, we've certainly we ever

427
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:57,560
Speaker 1: broken up a big company before successfully and permanently. Um well,

428
00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:00,840
Speaker 1: Standard Oil was broken up. H and T was split

429
00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:05,240
Speaker 1: into seven companies. Microsoft, Microsoft, I'm sorry, IBM was forced

430
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:09,239
Speaker 1: to spin off some subsidiaries. Um so, yeah, I mean

431
00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,640
Speaker 1: it's been done. At the side point, it's not necessarily

432
00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:16,840
Speaker 1: bad for the companies, at least some argument that the

433
00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:20,959
Speaker 1: antitrust litigation forced them to rethink their business models. They

434
00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:24,560
Speaker 1: may become more lucrative after the fact. Yeah, I mean,

435
00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:28,280
Speaker 1: I suppose Amazon is is the one that most people

436
00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:31,360
Speaker 1: interact with most. I mean, obviously Apple for those who

437
00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:34,800
Speaker 1: you know can afford to use the Apple Uh equals

438
00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:38,080
Speaker 1: here if you like. But you know, you could imagine

439
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:40,440
Speaker 1: a world in which Amazon splits up and each part

440
00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:45,400
Speaker 1: of it is totally viable and successful on its own. Yeah,

441
00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:48,440
Speaker 1: I mean, you could think of Amazon being split off

442
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:51,439
Speaker 1: cloud computing, which you can make an argument really has

443
00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:55,000
Speaker 1: nothing to do with the retail operation anyway, split up

444
00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:59,480
Speaker 1: the retail operation into vertical silos, the fulfillment centers, the

445
00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:02,760
Speaker 1: retail front end, Um, there are lots of ways to

446
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:05,280
Speaker 1: think about splitting these companies up, but I mean the

447
00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:08,280
Speaker 1: reality is it's going to be years of litigation before

448
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:10,440
Speaker 1: anyone gets to that point. And the other reality is

449
00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:13,399
Speaker 1: it's I mean, it's the intention, right, so you split

450
00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:15,720
Speaker 1: them up in order for there to be more choice

451
00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 1: and for all companies to be better actors because they

452
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 1: have you know, peers in their group and they're sort

453
00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:23,720
Speaker 1: of forced to be better actors for their consumers. But

454
00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:29,600
Speaker 1: that won't necessarily happen even if these companies are split up. No,

455
00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:32,280
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, there are certain things you might

456
00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:35,640
Speaker 1: expect if you split them up, probably more intense competition.

457
00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:40,520
Speaker 1: I mean, the amount of profits that you know, Google, Facebook, etcetera.

458
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:45,160
Speaker 1: Make are quite impressive, and it's hard to justify those

459
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,080
Speaker 1: profits in any other way except that their quasi monopolies.

460
00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:51,879
Speaker 1: So one issue might be, you know, they have to

461
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:56,720
Speaker 1: compete more on price, they have to think about different models. Um.

462
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,679
Speaker 1: I mean again, to some extent to Google, you are

463
00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:04,600
Speaker 1: the product, I am the product, and they take our

464
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:08,280
Speaker 1: data for free. If they're in a more intense competition situation,

465
00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:10,200
Speaker 1: they might actually have to think about, well, how do

466
00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:15,199
Speaker 1: we pay people for data fascinating. My god. Yeah, well,

467
00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:18,040
Speaker 1: I'm certainly god. They'll haven't give it away all of

468
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:20,600
Speaker 1: it already then, because there is still something left to buy.

469
00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:24,159
Speaker 1: Our thanks to you very much, as Steven Stroiless, for

470
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:26,240
Speaker 1: joining us there, and we do hope you'll come back

471
00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:28,440
Speaker 1: and take us through this process because no doubt, some

472
00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,000
Speaker 1: of it will be easy to understand, but there will

473
00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:32,159
Speaker 1: be a lot of it that won't be easy to

474
00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:35,879
Speaker 1: understand for the layman. Steven Stiles is visiting professor at

475
00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:40,240
Speaker 1: Princeton University's at Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs,

476
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:43,680
Speaker 1: joining us there. Do continue to listen to Bloomberg Markets

477
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:46,720
Speaker 1: throughout the afternoon. You will be taken through all of

478
00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:51,200
Speaker 1: the Columbus Stay News if you like, Bloomberg Business Week

479
00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:53,360
Speaker 1: taking place a little bit later on. My co host

480
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:57,080
Speaker 1: Baul Sweeney is on that show this week and next

481
00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:01,080
Speaker 1: week Bloomberg Business Week filling in in the afternoons on

482
00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:06,040
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Radio. Thanks for listening to Bloomberg Markets podcast. You

483
00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:09,560
Speaker 1: can subscribe and listen to interviews at Apple Podcasts or

484
00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:13,120
Speaker 1: whatever podcast platform you prefer. I'm Bonnie Quinn, I'm on

485
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:15,760
Speaker 1: Twitter at Bonnie Quinn and I'm Baul Sweeney. I'm on

486
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:18,720
Speaker 1: Twitter at pt Sweeney. Before the podcast, you can always

487
00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:20,600
Speaker 1: catch us worldwide at Bloomberg Radio