Will the largest US technology companies be smashed ?

Will the largest US technology companies be smashed ?

Washington, 28.7.2020

Istvan Dobozi, whose letter to the editor is circulated on the net, has a clear answer to this question: „The option of breaking up the digital oligopoly should be seriously considered“. His reasoning: Dependence on competitive markets was the basis for prosperity and global dominance for much of the 20th century in the USA. In recent decades, however, competition has been undermined. He cites the banking system as an example: where „uncontrolled mergers and acquisitions… The consequence: in the financial crisis of 2007-2008 they were too big to fail. But at present they are even bigger. So learning from this, he seems to be admonishing and demands: „It is imperative to ensure that giant technology companies do not exclude competition in the digital markets in an inadmissible way, be it in trade or in social discourse“. Istvan Dobozi is a former senior economist at the World Bank.

Robert Kindler has distinguished himself as a clear opponent of the break-up. For the vice president of Morgan Stanley, the smashing “ makes no sense.“ He uses the Corona crisis, of all things, to support his argument, and it goes like this: Take Amazon as an example: because the digital trading giant was able to reduce its costs in line with economic development, it was possible for it to continue to deliver during the pandemic. Another prerequisite for Kindler is the size of the company.

„What would we have done throughout the pandemic if organisations like Amazon had not existed? I just can’t imagine that individuals don’t feel that all these huge companies have made great points,“ stressed the top banker.

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, will testify tomorrow directly before the U.S. House of Representatives‘ Antitrust Subcommittee. The Budgetary Justice Antitrust Subcommittee has been investigating the market shares of Silicon Valley-based companies for more than a year.

It is predicted that the subcommittee will analyze Facebook’s market share in social media, such as WhatsApp and Instagram, and the co-dominance of digital media advertising with the alphabet Google. The subcommittee will also examine Apple’s use of programs based on its Application Shop guidelines and Amazon’s suppression of resistance by using 3rd-bash merchant data to promote its individual products.

„There is growing evidence that a handful of gatekeepers are working to impede efforts to regulate the main arteries of Internet commerce, information and communications,“ noted Jerry Nadler, chairman of the Department of Justice. And at the same time set the direction for the subcommittee: „With the increasing wave of concentration and consolidation throughout our economy, it is critical that we look at the current state of competition in electronic markets and the health and appropriateness of antitrust legislation“.

Politicians and technology leaders have commented over the past two years on the increasing dominance of leading technology companies – Amazon, Apple, Fb and Google – whose combined current market value is close to $5 trillion. Elizabeth Warren, who is considered the vice presidential candidate for the presidential nomination of alleged Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, has often spoken out in favor of breaking up the major technology companies.