From the Economist here: Trustbusters talk tough in America - excerpt: Well, it's about time! Because those three companies mentioned, though innovators, are (or were) the predominant actors in their markets! The already-rich and the newly-rich have been waiting from Reckoning Day for some time. Well, it hasn't come yet. Income Disparity is worst in the US when compared to similar countries such as the European Union. But that surprises no one given the higher levels of taxation upon the rich in Europe than in the US. (Which is how, in part, Europe pays for its highly-regarded National Healthcare System and the free- or nearly-free Postsecondary Degree educational programs that abound in each country.) Whist the US makes war on Iran, the EU makes war on ignorance. The boss of the antitrust division of America’s Department of Justice (Markan Delrahim, head of the antitrust division of America’s Department of Justice (DoJ) mentioned above, has some plans in mind to level the playing field in specifically hi-tech. There are good signs that something can be done for the berserk way that the prosecution of anti-trust laws are not taking on the buy-out frenzy that has resulted in diminished considerably competition in large market sectors. Unlike a century ago when companies agglomerated markets, it sparked both the Sherman Act of 1890, and the Clayton Act of 1914 and the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914. Which tried to put a stop to this at that time: The US is nonetheless, mostly as a result of the Internet, back to the very same situation that the above political satire poked fun at in 1889. Let's hope that Delarhim was not joking as well, and that FINALLY (more than a century later) the US will regain a semblance of market competitivity. And the average consumer can stop being screwed by artificially high prices due to the lack of real competition in amalgamated industries and market-sectors!
