The "Big" Problem

Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism, because it is a merger of state and corporate power.  -Benito Mussolini

Fascism is capitalism in decay.  -Vladimir Lenin

I've noted numerous times on SG about the dangers of power in the hands of too few, most notably the Federal Reserve and our corporatist economy.  When viewing these charts, think about the ramifications of lobbying influence, the shaping of rules and regulation, the ability to limit competition by erecting barriers to entry, the power of political donations, the pricing power given limited consumer choice, etc.  While the charts below just highlight the banking and railroad sectors, the same can be said for healthcare, food (just four producers control more than 90% of the chicken and pork markets), autos, etc.  Too much power in too few hands is a danger to the freedom and liberties of the individual.

Banking:

Railroads:

Comments

[Rajiv Satyal]

also... this has been happening in entertainment for years.

6 media companies run it...

disney, viacom, GE/comcast, sony, time warner, and news corp.

the industry has become risk-averse, shooting down creative ideas and employing sure-shot actors at the expense of little-known ones.

to the extent that there's fragmentation, great niche program like LOUIE on FX can develop. that channel of course is owned by news corp., but fragmentation is a counter-trend, not a benefit of consolidation.

[Rajiv Satyal]

that is definitely a BIG problem... consolidation leads to lack of consumer choice and control. agree.