Robert Reich
6.18.2016
Food prices are rising faster than inflation. One reason: The government has allowed far too much concentration in Big Ag. The latest proposed mergers would make it worse: The combined companies of Monsanto-Bayer and Dow-DuPont would control 76% of the market in corn seed, 66.4% of the market in soybeans, and 85% of the market in cotton seeds – giving them substantial power to raise prices further.
Mergers, acquisitions, and monopolistic practices are also pushing up prices in cable and Internet services, airlines, and health insurance. The result: millions of Americans are paying more than they would if these industries were more competitive -- a direct redistribution out of the paychecks of average people top executives and major shareholders. But it’s hidden inside the prices people pay.
Antitrust agencies (the FTC and the Justice Department’s antitrust division) have been starved of the resources they need to stop this consolidation. Why aren’t Republicans who claim they're on the side of the "free market" demanding more competition? Why aren't Democrats who claim they’re on the side of average working people demanding more antitrust enforcement?
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This blog will focus on political images I have found all around the Internet, though I will intersperse some commentary and quotes that I find interesting.
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