“My Least Libertarian Opinion: Ban Exclusivity Deals*” by Brendan Long

* 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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