Wealth Gap Soars as Corporate Predation and Regulatory Capture Threaten Democracies
The wealth gap has widened dramatically since 2009, with the top 0.1% seeing their share of financial assets soar while the bottom 50% have seen theirs fall. This trend, coupled with corporate predation and regulatory capture, is raising concerns about the health of democracies worldwide.
Corporations, driven by the goal of maximizing private gain, often resort to tactics such as price-fixing, predatory pricing, and monopolizing to achieve this. In democracies, these practices are supposed to be limited, but they often become an auction of favors, with predatory gains funneled back to the state through campaign contributions and lobbying. This phenomenon, known as regulatory capture, is a modern iteration of warlord predation, where corporations harness the state to maximize their gains.
The revolving door between government agencies and corporations is well-greased and normalized. This allows corporations to influence regulations in their favor, leading to parasitic behavior such as strip-mining the public with cartels and quasi-monopolies. This trend has been particularly pronounced in the United States since the mid-20th century, with the expansion of bureaucracy and regulatory state around the 1960s. This shift has led some to describe the current state as a 'regulatory dictatorship', with increasing influence of special interests in government regulations.
The systemic cost of regulatory capture includes economic stagnation, decay, and even collapse. As the wealth gap widens and corporate predation continues, it is crucial for democracies to strengthen their regulatory systems and ensure they are working for the benefit of all citizens, not just the privileged few.
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