This is good. It shows the Biden administration has recognized that the forty year experiment of consolidation in every industry is a failure.
https://twitter.com/josh_wingrove/status/1477946588609851393
If concentration is systemic, then taking on monopolists is an inflation-fighting strategy. 60% of inflation increases are going to corporate profits. mattstoller.substack.com/p/corporate-pr…
Meat is an obvious case. Back in October I pointed out that the economists blocking action on meatpacking consolidation had manipulated data to protect monopolists. Higher beef prices are one result. mattstoller.substack.com/p/economists-t… 
It's not just meat; concentration is systemic. 75% of industries are more concentrated than they were in the 1990s. This results in larger firms with higher margins, no operational improvements, and fewer entrants. econpapers.repec.org/article/ouprev…
Shortages are one result of concentration and monopolization. And the shortages aren't a result of the pandemic, they are a result of policy. mattstoller.substack.com/p/the-villains…
We pointed out that the Obama administration's antitrust policies, inspired and led by @ProfFionasm and @Sherman1890, were a total disaster. Including in meat-packing. Reagan, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, all had a similar pro-monopoly policy framework. economicliberties.us/our-work/coura…
Concentration probably sets us up for financial fragility and bouts of deflation/inflation. The case for decentralization of the economy is strong. Hyman Minsky in Stabilizing an Unstable Economy noted that larger firms create financial fragility. mattstoller.substack.com/p/how-monopoli…
Dominant financial power was the cause of the financial/foreclosure crisis, and the erosion of democracy in America. Obama helped the banks, meat-packers, big tech, hospitals et al facilitate authoritarianism in commerce. ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ulj/vol39/iss4…
One reason for zero percent interest rates since the crisis is there's been nowhere to invest except speculation, government debt, and monopolies. The rest is 'kill zones.' There's no resiliency in our economy because all we have is PE and dominant firms. mattstoller.substack.com/p/how-monopoli…
In February of 2020 I pointed out that this toxic brew of economic policymaking would lead to shortages. And so it has. wired.com/story/covid-19…
But supply chain fragility was easily foreseeable, and foreseen. I wrote up the problem in 2010. thenation.com/article/archiv…
We've been making the case on monopolization for years. That was the thesis of my book, Goliath, and the article in the Atlantic "How the Democrats Killed Their Populist Soul" in 2016. simonandschuster.com/books/Goliath/… theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
The anti-monopoly movement got a big boost in 2016 when @ddayen wrote this piece, which got Elizabeth Warren's attention. Since then the narrative has been adopted on the right and left and in industry. newrepublic.com/article/131412…
It's terrific that the Biden administration has adopted this framework and appointed good enforcers. But they have to follow through. In some areas they are. Here's Rohit Chopra pushing to block bank mergers. nytimes.com/2021/12/31/bus…
The FTC launched a critical investigation into supply chains and price discrimination. mattstoller.substack.com/p/antitrust-en…
Congress is helping in some areas. There's the Ocean Shipping Reform Act. prospect.org/economy/inflat…
The House Dem Oversight Committee of @RepMaloney did awesome work looking into pharma pricing games. oversight.house.gov/sites/democrat…
In other areas, Biden has failed. Four months ago we wrote to them asking to remove the official at the FDA who has been helping a testing duopoly by blocking the approval of more rapid Covid tests. They refused. The testing fiasco has been the result. documentcloud.org/documents/2109…
The White House is not coherent on taking on corporate power. Right now CMS and the FDA are in a big fight over a particularly expensive Alzheimer drug that doesn't work, but whose inclusion into Medicare could cause premium spikes of 14.5%. cnn.com/2021/11/12/hea…
There's @AmbassadorTai's failure on the #TripsWaiver, where Covid czar Jeff Zients and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo did big pharma's bidding. Great announcement, no follow-through. mattstoller.substack.com/p/bidens-failu…
The incoherence is hindering Biden's ability to govern. Here's Pete Buttigieg asking big telecom to delay their 5G roll-out for two weeks for air safety purposes. AT&T, Verizon, et al mock him for it with a resounding NO. cnet.com/tech/services-…
All of which says the Biden administration's record is mixed. Even on this meatpacking announcement, which is good, the official in charge at the USDA is Tom Vilsack, who under Obama helped consolidate the industry. washingtonmonthly.com/2020/12/13/sho…
There are a few things in this announcement that are immediately useful, but a lot of it is longer-term funding projects. And then there are pending investigations, which could be meaningful. So this is a 'maybe it will work' announcement.
In other words, the Biden must actually settle his White House's internal differences and follow through on taking on corporate power. Otherwise, the administration will continue to seem incoherent, inflation will rage, and people will feel there's no one in charge.
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