thoughts on companies becoming too powerful?

[Indamuck]

Disney has become the media giant and has been on a spending spree for the last decade buying up different ips.

Facebook has been buying up all their competition and is the dominant social media company and nothing else can compete with it.

Companies become so big and they have enormous power over us, do you think companies like this should be broken up by the government or be allowed to reign supreme?

[audaciousbeing]

Disney has become the media giant and has been on a spending spree for the last decade buying up different ips.

Facebook has been buying up all their competition and is the dominant social media company and nothing else can compete with it.

Companies become so big and they have enormous power over us, do you think companies like this should be broken up by the government or be allowed to reign supreme?

I think its about the law of the country in which they are domiciled and the country in which the business they are buying is also located and the type of business that is to be bought. There are laws especially in Europe though that guides against Companies monopoly i.e for merger or acquisition to happen, it needs to be approved by the regulatory body operating in the capital market who then evaluates the aftermath of such relationship. For Facebook now, I think since it has gone public, it would become a little bit difficult to have such type acquisitions without being checked but if the company can prove that such acquisition would make them better off and not being too 'powerful', there is nothing that would likely stop it.

[Kemarit]

As far as I know there has been one is recent memory wherein a government step up and "broke" a company because of monopoly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.

So we have a precedent already, but we have to understand that this will be a long and lengthy battle. And the irony here is that the one who benefited from all of this is the same company that we thought right now has a complete monopoly like Google and Facebook.

[Bitum]

I am generally against monopoly. Because it is not good. If there is a technical competition, we will all only benefit from it. And when a big corporation starts dictating its rule to me, I can only say that in the end we will be in bad hands. I think the governments of all the big ones are not that stupid and will try to destroy this monopoly, but that costs us the privile sphere

[eaLiTy]

Companies become so big and they have enormous power over us, do you think companies like this should be broken up by the government or be allowed to reign supreme?

Have you reverse engineered the entire process on how these companies has become this huge and powerful, if you understand those basic process you can very well avoid those companies so that their power will vanish in a matter of years, in short you can have many examples of companies who were once powerful gone down to dust, just look at the fate of Nokia, Kodak etc, they are only as powerful as long as people are using their service and if everyone starts avoiding their service they are done for good  .

[Oilacris]

Disney has become the media giant and has been on a spending spree for the last decade buying up different ips.

Facebook has been buying up all their competition and is the dominant social media company and nothing else can compete with it.

Companies become so big and they have enormous power over us, do you think companies like this should be broken up by the government or be allowed to reign supreme?

Government cant do anything that they do want specially to this big companies.They know on what they do capable of, these companies know how to play the game that's why we cant see that they cant make any immediate action against them.Lets see on what would happen next.

[hatshepsut93]

Often times the companies become so big because of the government in the first place - lobbying and excess regulations are very good ways to kill competition. On a totally free market, monopolies still can happen, but they don't last forever. For example, right now AMD becomes very popular on the CPU market, while Intel struggles to make stronger products, while historically AMD was the underdog of that market. This happened without any government intervention.

Also companies may be powerful, but they are not powerful in the same way that governments are - you are totally free to not use Facebook and Google, but government can brake into your house if it wanted to, and there's nothing you can do, so I'm not too concerned about companies.

[Decimation]

I've heard the argument quite a few times, and I don't think it's an invalid one. But what's the alternative? You break up the companies and then bigger ones acquire as many as they can, and we are back at square one. This is to be expected with late-stage capitalism, and it's not necessarily too harmful anyways. As long as there are a "few" giants, the market is still somewhat "free". I'm sure if these tried to join the government would hop in, but there is really no need to disrupt the economy right now. It may not sound optimal, but it's working.

[Jating]

I've heard the argument quite a few times, and I don't think it's an invalid one. But what's the alternative? You break up the companies and then bigger ones acquire as many as they can, and we are back at square one. This is to be expected with late-stage capitalism, and it's not necessarily too harmful anyways. As long as there are a "few" giants, the market is still somewhat "free". I'm sure if these tried to join the government would hop in, but there is really no need to disrupt the economy right now. It may not sound optimal, but it's working.

It's cyclical, we break one company and then it will spawn more, that's how it works. I know everyone hates monopoly or capitalism, but it can help innovation as well.

@hatshepsut93 -  I can relate to your argument, I was once part of the Intel families back then late 90'-to early 00's. yes we have monopolised the CPU's, even garnering 80%-90% of the market back then. But then competition with AMD is good early until they caught up with us, pushing us to the brink and we re invent and re innovate. Monopoly won't last forever and as soon as competition started to catch up with you, then you need to adjust otherwise you won't stay on top.

[jakelyson]

If the company in question is doing more harm to the competition in the market than good, then I think the government can step in to break it down. Just like what happened to Microsoft. I also agree that Facebook has grown too much and if Libra pushed through, they will be uncontrollable.

[elda34b]

One companies will eventually conquer them all if there's no competition. But when that happens, usually a new start-up show up and start disrupting the business, like what happened to Nokia. I think that's just how nature works.

I don't think some companies has too much power over me when I can decide whether I use their product or not. I use my phone not because some companies urged me to buy it.

[mu_enrico]

It is called economies of scale. The more you produce, the cheaper it becomes.

Generally, people don't have to worry about this monopoly power, because the government has antitrust law to "prevent" bad things to happen.

Yes the government could force divestment if these companies becomes too big.

[NavI_027]

Companies become so big and they have enormous power over us, do you think companies like this should be broken up by the government or be allowed to reign supreme?

What's the sense? They are private sectors which also have their own specific rights. Besides, as long as such companies are paying the appropriate taxes based on their net profit then there's should be no issue at all. If you are worrying that maybe someday these companies might become even bigger and rule over the US (for example) then stop because it is impossible to overpower the government. Yes! They can monopolize the field of their expertise but that's it, in the end they are all countrymen which are all under government's authority.

[samcrypto]

They are supported by the government as long as they are paying correct taxes and following the laws, we have nothing to worry about because they are not that dominant and they not solely control the market. A lot of competitors in the market, they are just making a good product that’s why they are still on top. They are not that powerful though, they only have the money.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

They are not that powerful though, they only have the money.

And when they do have the money to do what ever they want, what does that result to? Power of course. The like of Facebook, google etc didn't start building their empire on power they starter from acquiring wealth (money) then used that money to acquire power.

Companies become so big and they have enormous power over us, do you think companies like this should be broken up by the government or be allowed to reign supreme?

Don't know how the government of your country operate but ours don't give a damn instead they assist the big companies in the state to acquire more power as far they're benefiting from the companies. A popular example is the Dangote Group company. That company technically runs the country and are about take control of the main source of income by building private refinery. I'm of the suggestion these big companies should be broken up so we can have even distribution of power.

[sunsilk]

Hmmmmm, I guess that the government can step in to these large companies if they have been found something illegal, involved into an alarming issue or they don't pay taxes. But as long as they are complying to the government rules and regulations, they won't be touched.

The government earns through these large companies and it's usual to support these businesses as long as they have acquired licenses and they have permit to operate.

[Indamuck]

It is called economies of scale. The more you produce, the cheaper it becomes.

Generally, people don't have to worry about this monopoly power, because the government has antitrust law to "prevent" bad things to happen.

Yes the government could force divestment if these companies becomes too big.

The worrying thing is that productivity has constantly been increasing but wages have remained stagnant.  People in America made much more money in the 60s and 70s working a normal job and housing, healthcare, and education was a lot cheaper.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

OP, this has been going on for many decades, and from my reading of stock market history this consolidation actually used to be much worse--which is why there are anti-monopoly laws in the US nowadays.

I'm aware of what Disney is doing, but I've been watching my state hospitals consolidate and big pharmaceutical companies, and pharmacy chains merging with insurance companies.  I'm not sure if all of this is good for society as a whole, but I bet it's really good for those businesses.

However, competition is good and I don't think we're going to see the end of that anytime soon.  The only thing I really hate is how big chains (retail, mostly) have put local mom-and-pop stores out of business.  I think that's only going to get worse, unfortunately.

[binhvo1505]

break big businesses? that is not because it harms the economies of many countries. But I think the government should intervene in the expansion of these large businesses.
Because when they collapse, the economy will be greatly affected. therefore, should not be trusted in any large enterprise, we should still limit its greatness.

[mu_enrico]

The worrying thing is that productivity has constantly been increasing but wages have remained stagnant.  People in America made much more money in the 60s and 70s working a normal job and housing, healthcare, and education was a lot cheaper.

Stagnant wage is fine mate as long as the government does not debase the currency (or ceteris paribus). The problem is within the inflation, plus about the taxation policy, corporate policy (e.g., too much wage for C-level officers), immigration policy, etc.

Perhaps Americans should listen more to Milton Friedman instead of Bernie Sanders.