Monopolies in the USA: It's a Rerun

I'm currently reading the book Goliath, by Matt Stoller.

It's good, very good, and it's very slow reading for me. Not because it's boring, but I only have time to read at nights, and oftentimes I'm too tired to make much sense of it. It's well written, dense, full of information and often depressing (or uplifting as well!). It's about 460 pages long, just the writing, and there's another 100 or so pages of citations, notes and index. In other words, it rocks!

All the historical things that Stoller writes about in Goliath are happening again, or have happened recently, or will be happening soon. It's amazing how history is repeating itself, or, in other words, the people in charge are doing the same things their grandparents (great grandparents?) did. These were things which got their (great)grandparents revolution, or near revolution, in many places, caused countless people to fall into, or stay in, poverty, and made a few people very rich. And here we are, like we are in the 1920's again... Gah.

Here's a couple tidbits from the book which illustrate the repetition of recent history. There's tons more in the book which is what makes it so fascinating and frustrating.

In the early 1900's the man who controlled the American financial world was Andrew Mellon. You know, the guy who's last name is part of BNY-Mellon, that big financial behemoth of today. Carnegie-Mellon... Mellon Bank, Mellon this, Mellon that. Gah again! A populist, liberal, Democrat, whatever, Congressman from Texas named Wright Patman took him on. It was a huge undertaking, one which didn't seem would be at all successful when Patman started. Mellon controlled everything, including the FTC. Mellon was the Secretary of the Treasury. Mellon'd controlled that office for 11 years, from 1921 to 1932, by the time Patman started his impeachment proceedings against Mellon. During Mellon's time in office the big companies controlling coal, steelworking, railroads, grocery markets, finances, and more, got bigger and bigger. Monopolies took over and were encouraged. As Stoller wrote, 'It seemed like an endless sea of prosperity. Just not for everyone.' (Goliath: pg 44) Doesn't it seem like that again now?

In the 1920's the FTC, which was implemented under President Wilson to try to enforce fair trade in the economy, was completely controlled by big business, and by Mellon. And so it is controlled by big business again now, although maybe Lina Kahn can make a difference. Patman 'connected the power of monopolists in an individual market with the functioning of the economy at large'; showing how big business in the south where Patman was from drove wages down so low that normal people couldn't make money and pay for the products those businesses and others offered (Goliath: pg 66). 'A corporate monopoly, a chain store, and a powerful banker were organized around the same goal, stripping the purchasing power from the small businessman and farmer.' (Goliath: pg 67). Hasn't changed much has it? I mean, the way monopolies and finances control us when they are allowed to do so, even encouraged to do so, by the government, hasn't changed.

Patman's impeachment of Mellon eventually succeeded, Mellon resigned and became Hoover's ambassador to the UK. From the UK Mellon watched the economic system he'd set up fall apart during the Great Depression, and his buddy Hoover get beaten by FDR. Patman and other reformers were able to implement other changes. Under Patman's, and other populists' and liberal democrats' pushing and direction, with their influence over FDR and others, the American economy was reshaped to provide bounty for the common people from the mid 1930s to the 1960s (and 70s too). And that's about where I am in the book - coming into the time of Nixon and Carter and *gag* Reagan after the anti-Communist crap which threw New Deal proponents into disarray (and jail, sometimes).

So, now we're back to the 1920s in many ways. Here's an example of a very recent (like a week ago) monopoly/merger undertaking - the joining of Kroger and Albertson's/Safeway supermarkets: Stoller wrote about it here. In my little town, Safeway (once upon a time it was Albertson's and I loved it then) is now the only grocery store. The other store (part of a small chain) finally got run out of business a few months ago. I call the Safeway, 'Safebertson's' because I was pissed when Albertsons bought up Safeway and changed the name and feel of the store. Now, I guess I'll have to call it 'Krafbertson's' or something.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg1bg1a7Zkc]
Finally, Stoller was on Breaking Points last month talking about Amazon and its new worker training exec (the former private prison exec). The last point he makes (starts around 7:45 in the video), contrasting Kahn and Josh Hawley - and showing how they agree on monopolies, was pretty dang good. Many of the people know, most of the people care, about how businesses control the government no matter those people's political party, but our rulers? Most of them don't care so much.

So, thanks for reading and here's the open thread - and remember, everything is interesting if you dive deep enough, so tell us about where you're diving!