When the wealthiest person in the
world and the President of the United States cross swords, people are bound to
notice. Such a very public clash between billionaires, one of whom is the most
politically powerful person in the U.S., should not lead the rest of us to
infer that the interests of large corporations and the U.S. Government,
including the respective executives and elected representatives, typically
conflict. Corporate and individual mega-donations to political campaigns, the proverbial
“revolving door” between working in government and at a corporation, the reliance
of regulatory agencies on information from the regulated companies invite the
exploit of conflicts of interest such that legislation and regulations are even
written by corporate lawyers for their respective companies’ financial
interest. Furthermore, that many very large American-based corporations have
interlocking boards of directors gives corporate America considerable unified
force in seeing to it that Congress and the federal president remain friendly
to business interests. That both benefit from the status quo and have de jure
or de facto vetoes of reform proposals reinforces the staying power of the club.
Even as U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders enjoyed considerable media attention and
crowds in his speaking tour against oligopoly (i.e., consolidation within an
industry such that companies can set prices at will and can thus extract extra
profit beyond that which would accrue in a competitive market), it would be
wildly optimistic to hope for an onslaught of anti-trust enforcement from a
Republican or Democratic administration.
The complete essay is at "Musk vs. Trump."
