Politics & Government
Your Most Dangerous Enemy Could Be Posing as Your Friend
Not all criminals wear a mask and hold a gun. Some criminals are dressed in business attire and may deftly use institutions to pick pockets.
To paraphrase the civil rights advocate Malcom X, there are some enemies that snarl and show their teeth much like a wolf might do. You know they are your enemy. But then there are other enemies, they also show their teeth but pretend to be smiling. Malcom X likened the second enemy to a fox. He thought the smiling fox was more dangerous than the snarling wolf. Founding father Thomas Jefferson said the following that arguably applies to the headline issue and to the concerns raised by Malcom X.
Prior Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim at the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division cited Jefferson in remarks about the importance of laws that restrict monopoly power. Jefferson specifically said there needed to be "restriction against monopolies." Why? Because monopolies routinely hurt smaller business and the population at large.
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Sally Hubbard works for the left-leaning Open Markets Institute. She made the following observation in an op-ed to left-leaning CNN before the prior general election.
"People tend to think of Big Tech as the antitrust issue of the day, but tech giants are only the tip of the iceberg of the monopoly problems plaguing America. Most of the major challenges the candidates discussed — including unaffordable health care, income inequality and stagnant wages — can't be solved without checking monopolies' economic and political power.
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Take health care. The Open Markets Institute, where I work, recently published Volume II of America's Concentration Crisis, presenting troubling data on health care market concentration. In one example, two corporations, Fresenius Medical Care and DaVita, control a 92% market share in dialysis centers, a $24.4 billion industry. This concentration is a major reason health care costs have been skyrocketing for Americans. When health care providers lack competition, they can name their price and patients ultimately foot the bill. Even people with insurance through their employers pay higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
Yet health care is still only the beginning. The concentration crisis extends throughout our economy to include markets like baby formula, where three companies control 80% of the market, washer and dryer manufacturing, where three companies control 100% of the market, and airlines, where four companies control 76% of the market overall, with even higher concentrations on individual routes.
As monopolies and oligopolies rule most sectors of the economy, they are extracting wealth from everyone else. Chicken monopolies are extracting wealth from chicken farmers. Hospital mergers are depressing nurse's wages. Small and big businesses, workers and creators are being squeezed by monopolists who use their market power to extract the fruits of everyone else's labor. It's no surprise we are experiencing economic inequality that amounts to a New Gilded Age, with the richest 0.1% of all American families owning as much wealth as the lower 90% of all American families combined.
Monopolies are destroying the American Dream."
As the quote from Thomas Jefferson above reminds us, monopoly power is not new. Nor is it new that monopolists often get cozy with governments and politicos in order to get their way. While the kinds of monopolies facing America today have some new names and faces, the classic political cartoon below reminds us that monopolists have long been viewed as enemies of the people. The text in the image below of the U.S. Senate chamber by cartoonist Joseph Keppler says: “This is a Senate of the Monopolists by the Monopolists for the Monopolists.” Near the upper left there is an entrance labeled as "People's Entrance" with a sign and lock placed over it that says "closed." In stark contrast, the upper right has an "Entrance for Monopolists." From that perch, the "Bosses of the Senate" look down at their apparent minions in the U.S. Senate.
Truth can be found from sources on the left-center-right, but sometimes you have to separate the wheat from the chaff.
As those who have followed my series on this Patch know, I’m an evidence-based critic of the Biden Harris (D) administration. That said, the statements that follow from the Biden White House website are largely accurate, even if the introduction and what followed was arguably misleading. Pay close attention to what is written here and see how closely it resembles insights from the above by Sally Hubbard.
"For decades, corporate consolidation has been accelerating. In over 75% of U.S. industries, a smaller number of large companies now control more of the business than they did twenty years ago. This is true across healthcare, financial services, agriculture and more.
That lack of competition drives up prices for consumers. As fewer large players have controlled more of the market, mark-ups (charges over cost) have tripled. Families are paying higher prices for necessities—things like prescription drugs, hearing aids, and internet service.
Barriers to competition are also driving down wages for workers. When there are only a few employers in town, workers have less opportunity to bargain for a higher wage and to demand dignity and respect in the workplace. In fact, research shows that industry consolidation is decreasing advertised wages by as much as 17%. Tens of millions of Americans—including those working in construction and retail—are required to sign non-compete agreements as a condition of getting a job, which makes it harder for them to switch to better-paying options.
In total, higher prices and lower wages caused by lack of competition are now estimated to cost the median American household $5,000 per year.
Inadequate competition holds back economic growth and innovation. The rate of new business formation has fallen by almost 50% since the 1970s as large businesses make it harder for Americans with good ideas to break into markets. There are fewer opportunities for existing small and independent businesses to access markets and earn a fair return. Economists find that as competition declines, productivity growth slows, business investment and innovation decline, and income, wealth, and racial inequality widen."
Understanding Affordable Housing and Other Higher Costs
This is a pretty big deal…
Donald Trump Announced he will be Breaking up PBMs in Public Healthcare - The Shadowy Middle-Men in Public Healthcare 🙌
What does this mean?
• Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) were established in the 70’s to be an advocate to work on the behalf… pic.twitter.com/6pxhwmByJc
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) December" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/MJTruthUlt... 30, 2024
That is an example of how a small group can act in an oligopoly form of monopolization. Sometimes monopoly power is held by one, or a small group, of corporate interests.
There are ripple effects from monopolization that suck money out of the economy, and out of the hands of most people and into the hands of a few.
You or someone you care about may never step foot in a manufactured home, but the importance of having inherently affordable housing can’t be understated. Why? Because conventional housing builders have openly said that they can’t compete on price. While this writer is a critic of the three firms that are named herein, the screen capture from Cavco Industries below is demonstrably accurate.
In manufactured housing, three companies control about 80 percent of the production of new HUD Code manufactured homes. Clayton Homes (BRK), Champion Homes (SKY), and Cavco Industries (CVCO) are apparently slowly but steadily killing off and dividing up the independents that once were far more prominent. As consolidation occurred after 2000 production fell. Coincidence? See what the antitrust investigators have to say and the linked analysis.
Ironically, Skyline Champion's own investor pitch-deck provides ample evidence for manufactured housing industry underperformance. That same pitch-deck further provides evidence that Mergers and Acquisitions are a key part of their business model. What is there in such revelations that Birch and Williams miss? Bear in mind, that they are mere stand-ins who voluntarily raised their hands in defense of Berkshire and MHI firms like Skyline Champion. Notice: Several of the illustrations shown in this report can be opened in many browsers to reveal a larger size. To open this picture, click the image once. When the window opens, click it again to reveal the larger size photo. Use your browsers back key to return to the article. https://www.manufacturedhomepronews.com/masthead/true-tale-of-four-attorneys-research-into-manufactured-housing-what-they-reveal-about-why-manufactured-homes-are-underperforming-during-an-affordable-housing-crisis-facts-and-analysis/ and https://www.manufacturedhomelivingnews.com/democratic-congressional-staffer-alleged-manufactured-housing-institute-mhi-anti-consumer-manufactured-housing-institute-leaders-decline-comment-sam-strommen-antitrust-case-allegations-anal/
The working plan is early in 2025 there will be a post that looks at specific companies in manufactured housing that are apparently failing their investors, failing their stakeholders, and could be specific examples of market manipulations that hurt untold numbers of souls looking for affordable housing.
But if you met these people on the street, in a meeting, or coffee shop, they may smile becomingly. They may strike up a friendly conversation. They may seem like the kind of people that you'd want to have a drink with. Just because someone is wearing professional attire it doesn't mean that they are honest, good, or looking out for your interests. That is true in politics. That is true in business. That is true in other areas of life. More on that and related in the days ahead.
As 2024 comes to a close, let me wish everyone a blessed and improved New Year. Watch for more reports here on the Patch and on MHProNews and MHLivingNews in 2025 you may not find anywhere else.
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---> L. A. “Tony” Kovach is a publisher who has earned multiple awards in history. He and his family live in a manufactured home on private property in Winter Haven, FL. He is the co-founder of Manufactured Home Living News.com (MHLivingNews.com) and Manufactured Home Pro News.com (MHProNews.com), trade publications serving segments of the manufactured home industry. Having worked in several segments of the manufactured home industry for over 3 decades, Kovach is a widely acknowledged and often praised expert on manufactured housing. ###
