Comment by n4r9
5 years ago
Still, the question is not which currently have more power, but which is more responsible with that power in a democratic society.
Companies are remarkably good at finding ways to control the market. That's why antitrust legislation is needed to protect consumers.
The only unbeatable way companies control the market is through government-granted monopoly. Any other way is eventually defeated by the market itself.
Every government intervention in the market will benefit established players and will hinder startups and thus the markets's self-regulating mechanisms.
This is an extreme counterexample, but doesn't the fact that the government will prosecute large companies that order hit squads to assassinate startup employees count as an "intervention"?
There are many other cases where I'd be very uncomfortable trusting these so-called "self-regulatinf mechanisms", e.g. the abolition of slavery, child labour, and racial/sexual employment discrimination.
All that is illegal behavior. Markets require the rule of law too and nobody is disputing the role of governments to implement and uphold the law.
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