A growing group of vocal critics of various political stripes, however, are increasingly warning that we’ve gone too far. Proponents of the laissez-faire, free market thinking of recent decades will say that the markets have basically worked themselves out - if an entity grows big enough to be a mega-corporation, it deserves its status, and just a handful of players in a given space is enough to keep prices down and everyone happy. That has affected consumers, communities, competitors, and workers in a variety of ways. Incumbents - companies that already exist - are growing their market shares and becoming more stable, and they’re getting harder and harder to compete with. There’s little denying that since the 1970s, the way antitrust has been approached in the United States has led to a landscape where a smaller number of big players dominate the economy. They’re a systemic feature of the economy. When you look, monopolies and oligopolies are everywhere. When you look, monopolies and oligopolies (meaning instead of one dominant company, there are a few) are everywhere. But competition is lacking across countless industries, including airlines, telecommunications, lightbulbs, funeral caskets, hospitals, mattresses, baby formula, agriculture, candy, chocolate, beer, porn, and even cheerleading, just to name some examples. Lately, you’ve probably heard a lot of complaints about the size and scope of big tech companies: Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Apple. Across industry after industry, sector after sector, power and market share have been consolidated into the hands of a handful of players. But that monthly annoyance speaks to a broader trend that all Americans should be aware of - and angry about. More than two years later, I’m still mad about it. When I called the company’s customer service line, the woman on the phone knew something I did not: I didn’t really have other service options available in my area. It had been gradually ticking up over the past several months without explanation - let alone better service - and I wanted to know what was up. In the summer of 2017, I decided it was time to put on my big-girl pants and try to talk to my internet provider about my bill.
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