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Big business us history1/10/2024 ![]() The idea that America has a monopoly problem is now beyond dispute. Many Republicans also oppose the formation of monopolies, but the Democrats in particular would benefit from making it a centerpiece of their platform in the coming years. Yet today most Americans associate terms like “freedom” and “liberty” with Republicans, and if that remains the case, Democrats will likely have trouble rebuilding their party as they look to 2018. This tradition, which dates to the time of Thomas Jefferson, found expression in anti-monopoly policies designed to protect Americans not just as consumers, but also as citizens and producers, from domination by the powerful. Monopoly provides much of the funds the wealthy use to distort American politics.įor most of the 20th century the Democratic Party worked hard to prevent such extreme concentration of power. The effects of monopoly enrage voters in their day-to-day lives, as they face the sky-high prices set by drug-company cartels and the abuses of cable providers, health insurers, and airlines. Monopoly is a main driver of inequality, as profits concentrate more wealth in the hands of the few. It includes falling real wages, as decades of mergers have reduced the need for employers to compete to attract and retain workers. It includes plunging rates of entrepreneurship and innovation as concentrated markets choke off independent businesses and new start-ups. ![]() It includes the fading of heartland cities like Memphis and Minneapolis as corporate giants in coastal cities buy out local banks and businesses. These include the declining fortunes of rural America as farmers struggle against agriculture conglomerates. It was based on a substantial and growing body of research that confirms that consolidation is at the root of many of America’s most pressing economic and political problems. The pity is that Clinton’s stance wasn’t simple campaign rhetoric. Few other Democrats even mentioned the word monopoly. Yet after the Ohio speech, Clinton rarely touched again on the issue. It was a message seemingly tailor-made for the wrathful electorate of 2016. It’s no wonder Americans feel the deck is stacked for those at the top.” In a speech in Toledo last fall, Clinton assailed “old-fashioned monopolies” and vowed to appoint “tough” enforcers “so the big don’t keep getting bigger and bigger.”Ĭlinton’s words were in keeping with Bernie Sanders’s attacks on big banks, but went further, tracing how concentration is a problem throughout the economy. In an October 2015 op-ed, she wrote that “large corporations are concentrating control over markets” and “using their power to raise prices, limit choices for consumers, lower wages for workers, and hold back competition from startups and small businesses. ![]() Obama's Top 50 Accomplishments, RevisitedĪs it happens, Clinton did have the germ of exactly such an idea-if one knew where to look.Clinton simply didn’t articulate a vision compelling enough to compete with Donald Trump’s rousing, if dubious, message that bad trade deals and illegal immigration explain the downward mobility of so many Americans. There are many competing interpretations for why Hillary Clinton lost last fall’s election, but most observers do agree that economics played a big role.
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