(C) OpenDemocracy
This story was originally published by OpenDemocracy and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Time to liberate the economy from corporate monopolies [1]

[]

Date: 2023-05

A few months into his presidency, Joe Biden signed an executive order to promote competition in the American economy saying: “We’re now 40 years into the experiment of letting giant corporations accumulate more and more power […] I believe the experiment failed.”

While those might seem unlikely words from the once centrist champion of corporate trade deals, Biden’s speeches – peppered with broadsides against “big agriculture”, “big tech” and “big pharma” – today sound closer to Britain’s former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell than Hillary Clinton.

There are many reasons for Biden’s stance on monopolies. The profound shock to America’s liberal establishment of the Trump presidency and the popularity of Clinton’s one-time opponent Bernie Sanders have certainly shifted the dial.

But there is also deep recognition that we live in an economy captured by incredibly wealthy and powerful corporations, almost to the point where they threaten the stability of the system.

Help us uncover the truth about Covid-19 The Covid-19 public inquiry is a historic chance to find out what really happened. Make a donation

While the world is battered by a cost of living crisis even as it recovers from the worst pandemic in a century and struggles to cope with the effects of climate change, the profits of the biggest 500 firms on the planet nearly doubled, exceeding $3trn in 2021. At $38trn, their combined income amounted to nearly 40% of the world economy and more than the GDP of all but the very richest countries taken together.

The five biggest corporations together earned more than the income of the poorest two billion people – or nearly a quarter of the world’s population. And a single corporation, Walmart, earned more than half a trillion dollars or at least $1.5bn every day, while Apple’s profits rocketed to $95bn.

The reason is the growing concentration of corporate power. In many sectors, a handful of massive companies have cornered the market, meaning they are free to set prices, whatever the circumstances.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/corporate-monopolies-are-threat-to-democracy-public-interest/

Published and (C) by OpenDemocracy
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/opendemocracy/