"How America gave up on free markets" - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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This is about a new book written by the economist, Phillipon. 20-30 years ago, America was famous for low prices and intense competition. Now we're famous for the opposite of that. We pay more than guys in europe do for a wide variety of things, from drugs to cell phones to air fare and more.

"It attributes these troubling developments to a decline in competition that has been brought about in large part by the rise of very powerful technology companies and above all by the lack of enforcement of antitrust policies. Philippon also points to the damaging role of politicians who protect the interests of their wealthy donors by sponsoring and creating loopholes in tax and regulatory laws."
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2019-12-10/great-reversal-how-america-gave-free-markets

"In this much-anticipated book, a leading economist argues that many key problems of the American economy are due not to the flaws of capitalism or the inevitabilities of globalization but to the concentration of corporate power. By lobbying against competition, the biggest firms drive profits higher while depressing wages and limiting opportunities for investment, innovation, and growth."
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44326237-the-great-reversal

FDR and TR were right...


https://www.amazon.com/Great-Reversal-America-Gave-Markets/dp/0674237544/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=reversal+book&qid=1582475136&sr=8-2
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late wrote:"In this much-anticipated book, a leading economist argues that many key problems of the American economy are due not to the flaws of capitalism or the inevitabilities of globalization but to the concentration of corporate power. By lobbying against competition, the biggest firms drive profits higher while depressing wages and limiting opportunities for investment, innovation, and growth."


This is more or less what I have been saying all these years in this forum. Even if the terminology may be a little different, the essence is identical.

The US empire doesn't defend the free market economy, just like the British empire didn't defend the market economy. It uses the ideology of the free market to defend its own interests by setting global market rules. If others become too competitive, the US changes the rules or imposes sanctions on non-US competitors. This has become blindingly obvious under Trump.

The US's corporate and financial empire and monopoly capitalism ultimately depend on the US's political and military power to defend its global assets just like the East India Company depended on the British navy to defend its monopolistic position.

US leftists attacking the social and free market economy on principal grounds are in reality defending US imperialism since they try to obfuscate the real cause of the problem, which is imperialism.

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