Open Markets Applauds Warren and Sanders For Taking a Clear Stand Against Monopolies
Open Markets applauds Senators Warren and Sanders for taking bold stances against monopolies this week as bipartisan momentum towards stronger antitrust enforcement in Congress continues to build.
As bipartisan support for antitrust enforcement continues to grow in Congress, both Warren and Sanders took bold and aggressive stances against the biggest monopolists in America. Today Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) released an aggressive, far-reaching proposal to break up the biggest tech monopolies, including taking a retroactive look at approved acquisitions. And in Iowa, Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) called for breaking up Big Ag while pledging stricter antitrust enforcement to help revitalize rural communities.
"Senator Warren's plan to break up Google, Amazon, and Facebook is of fundamental importance to all Americans,” said Open Markets Executive Director Barry Lynn. “Her proposal should serve as a basic starting point for candidates from both parties, as well as Congress and the Administration."
“No serious presidential candidate can present a proposal to address economic inequality and strengthen democracy without being willing to name names and break up monopoly power,” said Open Markets Deputy Director Sarah Miller. “It’s good to see these strong stances against monopolies like Bayer and Facebook right out of the gate.”
Warren’s far-reaching proposal calls for the retroactive break-up of mergers that have made these companies both politically and economically powerful— such as Amazon and Whole Foods, Google and DoubleClick, and Facebook's acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp. The proposal also calls for imposing a “Glass-Steagall”-like separation between the ad revenue business from tech platform services such as Google’s search function and bans companies such as Amazon from selling its own goods in direct competition with sellers on its own market.
Sanders’ speech highlights extreme concentration in the agriculture industry, where many rural areas are controlled by just one buyer, leaving farmers at their mercy and forced to settle for inadequate wages. Today, the top four meat packing conglomerates control 80% of the beef market, 63% of the pork market and 53% of the chicken market, with factory farms receiving 77% of government subsidies. This gross monopolization leaves little room for family farmers, which in turn leads to the continued sharp decline of rural American communities. In his speech, Sanders called out the recent Bayer-Monsanto merger, which gave the two conglomerates 78% of the seed industry. He promised, if elected, to enforce antitrust laws, in order to help rebuild rural America.