The paper proposes a ban on almost all advertising:
> It is hard to believe that as late as the 1970s the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) viewed non-false, non-misleading advertising as anticompetitive conduct capable of violating the antitrust laws.
> Advertising has the power, through repetition and brand image creation, to induce consumers to buy things that they do not really want, to the disadvantage of competitors selling the things that consumers would otherwise buy.
Great. To those ringing their hands about the death of capitalism they fear will follow: if capitalism is premised on buying things you don’t need, destroying the planet in the process, maybe we can do better?
Capitalism is not premised on buying things you don't need.
Capitalism has been invigorated by people buying things they don't need.
Capitalism has a very different premise than this. When it ran into problems capitalists (particularly in the US and their boosters) opted to double down on just about all of its negatives, rather than consider real alternatives.
> It is hard to believe that as late as the 1970s the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) viewed non-false, non-misleading advertising as anticompetitive conduct capable of violating the antitrust laws.
> Advertising has the power, through repetition and brand image creation, to induce consumers to buy things that they do not really want, to the disadvantage of competitors selling the things that consumers would otherwise buy.