Just in time for #Davos, here's 'Taken, not earned: How monopolists drive the world’s power and wealth divide," a report from a coalition of international tax justice and
Just in time for #Davos, here's 'Taken, not earned: How monopolists drive the world’s power and wealth divide," a report from a coalition of international tax justice and
Just in time for #Davos, here's 'Taken, not earned: How monopolists drive the world’s power and wealth divide," a report from a coalition of international tax justice and anti-corporate activist groups:
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
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Everyone - even the World Economic Forum - says that wealth inequality is a serious problem, corroding our politics and our social cohesion. What this report does is link that inequality to monopolies, which produce the billionaires who are wrecking the world.
The rise of monopolies over the past 40 years came about as the result of specific, deliberate policy choices.
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As the report documents, the wealthiest people in America funneled a fortune into neutering #antitrust enforcement, through the "consumer welfare" doctrine.
This is an economic theory that equates monopolies with efficiency: "If everyone is buying the same things from the same store, that tells you the store is doing something right, not something criminal." 40 years ago.
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Ever since, the wealthy have funded think-tanks, university programs and even "continuing education" programs for federal judges to push this line:
They didn't do this for ideological reasons - they were chasing material goals. Monopolies produce vast profits, and those profits produce vast wealth. The rise and rise of the super rich cannot be decoupled from the rise and rise of monopolies.
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@pluralistic@mamot.fr > TRUTH 💯👍🥹