Even though America has some robust anti-trust legislation and also has the agency to pass additional anti-monopoly-type legislation, it doesn’t seem to have the will to do so. The most probable reason why we are seeing mega-corporations that compete in the same type of field that are permitted to merge or to buy out the other really comes down to the fact that those that are in charge of enforcing legislation, that is, the regulators of such, too often come from the same type of concentrated industry themselves, essentially meaning that they won’t lift a finger to stop mergers that should not only be fully vetted but in many a case, should not be occurring.
While proponents of these mergers talk about the efficiency of scale of such a consolidation, what they fail to mention is that the more concentrated economic power is in the hands of the very, very few, or of just one, essentially means that they have pricing authority over the items that they are selling, which is fantastic for their bottom line and longevity. This thus means that whenever the government does nothing to prevent companies that should be competing against one another but rather permits them to consolidate with one another, it means that the general public will have to come up with even more money to pay for goods and services.
So too, whenever a given mega-conglomerate knows that it owns the market, it’s going to have a real reluctance to cannibalize any of its business, because it would rather reap in the profits, as compared to initiating its own form of “creative destruction.” This signifies that as long as some product line can be milked and continually milked, despite the fact that innovations are available to develop and to be encouraged, the less benefit the public will get in return. Additionally, the bottom line is that competition basically forces the hand to invent and re-invent for a given corporation, as well as the salient fact that competition in and of itself, signifies that companies can’t just rest on their laurels, but rather because they are fearful that they could see their market share cratered or hurt badly, encourages them to spend money on research and development and to do what is necessary to remain relevant and on top of the situation.
Finally, whenever those that should be regulating companies aren’t doing their job on behalf of the public, but are in essence working hand in glove with the mega-corporations that dominate particular markets, it signifies that those that are already the winners are going to keep winning more, which means there will be less money in hand for those that make up the general public. This is why it is so important to not just pass legislation which has a good purpose behind it, but to see that the legislation that is meant for the benefit of the people is actually put into effect, and when not, that there are ways to amend such, because whenever the fox is guarding the henhouse such as we see regarding big consolidated business, it is the people that get the continual short end of the stick.