kegill, 1 month ago

Are we on the verge of a new age of anti-monopolist philosophy?

I’ve read more commentary on monopolists in the past year than in the 20 years after my post-grad studies.

From @pluralistic today (12 April), scathing takedown
https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/12/give-me-convenience/#or-give-me-death

Also, @rbreich from 10 April: “Just four companies now control processing of 80 percent of beef, nearly 70 percent of pork, and almost 60 percent of poultry.”
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/why-are-we-still-suffering-inflation

In 2023, PepsiCo’s chief financial officer said that even though inflation was dropping, its prices would not be. Pepsi hiked its prices by double digits and announced plans to keep them high in 2024. If Pepsi were challenged by tougher competition, consumers would just buy something cheaper. But PepsiCo’s only major soda competitor is Coca-Cola, which — surprise, surprise — announced similar price hikes at about the same time as Pepsi and has also kept its prices high. The CEO of Coca-Cola claimed that the company had “earned the right” to push price hikes because its sodas are popular.
Two Robert Reich linked tweets about monopolization in food. https://x.com/rbreich/status/1778800491465773144 https://x.com/rbreich/status/1778818030371246443