* With sufficiently large and entrenched companies.

There's a semi-common meme on Twitter where people share their most X opinion, where X is a group the poster doesn't identify with; or sometimes my least X opinion, where X is a group they do identify with.

https://x.com/Aella_Girl/status/1899029178856710572

In that spirit, my least libertarian opinion is that exclusivity deals with sufficiently entrenched companies[1] are bad and should be illegal[2].

To make it even less libertarian, I think it should be an unfair playing field and their competitors should be allowed to pay for exclusivity[3]. If you're a new entrant to a market, an exclusivity deal might be the only way you can break in, and more competition is good[4].

Exclusivity Deals With Monopolists Have Asymmetric Costs

The problem with exclusivity deals with a company that already has a monopoly is that the cost is much higher for a new entrant than the [...]

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Outline:

(00:56) Exclusivity Deals With Monopolists Have Asymmetric Costs

(01:40) Your Choices

(03:08) This Seems Bad

The original text contained 10 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published:
August 10th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/sf9QQesLi8DhqLj8o/my-least-libertarian-opinion-ban-exclusivity-deals

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

https://x.com/Aella_Girl/status/1899029178856710572

This meme shows a cartoon presenter making an identical financial outcome seem appealing through clever reframing.

The four panels illustrate how selling audiobooks on ACX versus other platforms results in the same 8% lower earnings, but presented as if they're different decisions through the character's enthusiastic pointing and presentation style.

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Jerry Seinfeld and regret over the Seinfeld finale