12/30/2022 Reveals The Folly Of Klobuchar And Grassley’s AICOA

BusinessPolicy12/30/2022 Reveals The Folly Of Klobuchar And Grassley’s AICOAByJohn Tamny,Contributor.Follow AuthorJun 09, 2026, 12:30pm EDTUNITED STATES - June 11: Sen. Charles Grassley, R-IA., and Sen. Amy Klobucher, D-MN., before the start of the full committee hearing on the nominations of B. Todd Jones to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Stuart Delery to be assistant attorney general for the Civil Division at the Justice Department on June 11, 2013. (Photo By Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call)CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagesWhat would $10,000 invested in Apple twenty years ago be worth today? Tick tock, tick tock. The answer is roughly $1.3 million. The remarkable, 13,142% return in Apple shares since 2006 absolutely begs for the attention of U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and others eager to pass the misguided American Innovation and Online Choice Act (AICOA). A focus on the stock price of Apple, along with Google and Meta, would potentially save the Senators from substantial legislative error. To see why, contemplate the intent of AICOA. It’s an antitrust bill crafted to keep the largest digital platforms from allegedly abusing their market power. In particular, it focuses on "gatekeeper" companies that operate “dominant platforms” to prevent them from supposedly damaging would-be competitors. The conceit of the legislation is staggering. It can be found not just in Apple’s remarkable performance since 2006. Consider Google’s shares. They’re up 1,700% over the same timeframe. Meta has been public since 2012, and its shares are up 1,664% since then. What the returns are loudly conveying to the Senators is that few saw their success coming. The previous assertion isn’t a speculation, rather it’s a fact. The simple, essential truth about stock markets is that they’re a look ahead. The returns of Apple, Google, and Meta over twenty, twenty, and fourteen years indicate that investors didn’...