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from the what's-mine-is-mine-and-what's-yours-is-mine dept.
On 4 November 2019, Techcrunch published an interview with Thomas Philippon, author of the book The Great Reversal: How America Gave Up on Free Markets, where he discusses the diminution of competition in many US market sectors.
From the Techcrunch article:
Economist Thomas Philippon's new book, "The Great Reversal: How America Gave Up on Free Markets," went on sale this past week, highlighting the United States' failure to block the country's largest companies from inhibiting fair competition.
"The broad picture is that competition is good, but surprisingly fragile," he said. "In today's environment, the U.S. is moving from a place where it was at the forefront of having free markets that worked pretty well for most people to being a laggard in many industries."
Philippon's premise isn't exactly breaking news, but the interview and his book give some good background as to how we got where we are, and how other nations are addressing these issues more (in some cases, much more) effectively.
The deregulation of major U.S. industries like telecom and energy in the 1970s and 80s sparked competition that lowered consumer prices and drove product innovation between competitors. Europe, on the other hand, lagged behind with more expensive internet, phone plans, airline tickets, and more until around 2000 when a major reversal of this trend began. Strikingly, when the EU strengthened deregulation and antitrust efforts to open its markets to more competition, it was the U.S. that reversed course.
[...] Based on Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data, the U.S. now has more regulations for opening a new business than every EU country except Greece and Poland — a complete reversal since 1998, when only the UK had fewer rules than the U.S. Per capita GDP growth in the EU outpaced that of the U.S. over 1999-2017. On a purchasing power parity basis, Americans have experienced a 7% increase in prices (relative to EU residents) for the same goods, due specifically to increased profit margins of companies with reduced competition.
The reason for this divergence? According to Philippon, corporate incumbents in the U.S. gained outsized political influence and have used it to a) smother potential antitrust reviews and b) implement regulations that inhibit startups from competing against them. As a result, the U.S. regulatory system prioritizes the interests of incumbents at the expense of free market competition, he says.
What say you, Soylentils? Is competition truly dead in many sectors of the economy, or are there ways to bring it back and keep it?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday November 13 2019, @01:19PM (4 children)
Oh do fuck off. There are plenty of jobs out there with working conditions that vary from epic to cocktacular, even for the utterly unskilled. None of which even remotely resemble slavery. Coal mining a hundred years ago, that resembled slavery. And that's without even disputing the entirely wrong notion that jobs are magically shit out by the Corporate Fairy. Cut the bullshit socialist propaganda.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 13 2019, @05:59PM (1 child)
Many slaves were treated quite well, except for the threat of their lives being taken away from them. All the modern day system has done is tack on a few letters. They theeaten your livelihood, and for many people especially those with families it is tantamount to slavery.
Sure it isn't quite as bad as it used to be, but that doesn't make the comparison wrong. Wage slavery is real, it is just spread out so people can be suckered into focusing on individuals and thus miss the greater picture.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday November 13 2019, @08:23PM
It's not even remotely close to as bad as it used to be and yes that does make the comparison utterly wrong. Working at a coal mine meant you work all day for less than you got charged by the company store, company utilities, and paid for company housing. You literally couldn't leave because of all the money you owed them that they would demand payment on as soon as you quit.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Wednesday November 13 2019, @10:19PM (1 child)
Then why do people have to settle for working for a pittance for a large, successful e-business that has them pissing into bottles because they aren't even allowed reasonable bathroom breaks? Clearly not everyone has the kind of options you daydream about.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday November 13 2019, @11:15PM
Because they're cowardly or grossly misinformed about how much better working for a corporation will make their life. Big corporations don't control all jobs. They don't provide a majority of them and they don't create more new ones each year. And that's entirely discounting working for themselves. So, yes, everyone does have those kind of options. Whether they choose to exercise them or not is entirely on them.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.