The five biggest Wall Street banks are becoming gigantic agglomerations with a lock on all financial transactions. The biggest cable carriers are merging into a Comcast behemoth. Amazon is locking up online shopping. Google has locked up online searching. Apple is on the way to locking up mobile devices and their apps. FB is locking up online communications. Netflix, films and videos. America once busted up the Standard Oil Trust and Ma Bell. Why can’t we bust up these new concentrations of economic (and ultimately political) power? Because the new form of concentration is less the result of large market share (markets are much harder to define now) than making it hard if not impossible for consumers to switch. The new giants are creating networks that give customers great convenience and efficiency but also eliminate alternatives. The increasing convenience and efficiency eventually make joining (or buying into) the network a necessity. But without alternatives, consumers will eventually be paying through the nose for such necessities. Is it time to focus antitrust law on these emerging giant networks?
Posted on: Fri, 14 Feb 2014 15:40:23 +0000
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