1/ There are superficial parallels between Biden Admin's attack on corporate concentration and China's new crackdown on big tech. Both see large companies' agglomeration of information, data, market share, as a threat ....
2/ But Biden's program stems from a view that the government and corporations are among many countervailing forces in our society, and the balance has swung too far in favor of corporations (I'm just describing, not passing judgment, on ... their approach) ...
3/ Indeed, the neo-Brandeisians, as I describe in this week's column, see large agglomerations of economic power as antithetical to democracy. They are spiritual companions with libertarians who feel the same way about government power ... wsj.com/articles/antit…
4/ While this empowers regulators, the ultimate aim is to empower individual consumers, merchants, and maintain the pluralistic character of American society....
5/ Chinese authorities are also acting out of concern that these companies may mishandle data and mistreat customers. But their ultimate concern is the security of the state, from foreign influence, and from internal challenges, including from big businesses....
6/ As WSJ reported last November, "Xi ... has displayed a diminishing tolerance for big private businesses that have amassed capital & influence—& are perceived to have challenged both his rule & the stability craved by factions in the ... newly assertive Communist Party."
7/ The end goal: more widely dispersed power in the U.S.; less in China.
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