How we got here · Corporations
Why do so few companies seem to run everything?
Antitrust, mergers, PE, shareholder primacy
Timeline · newest first
2020sPolicy
Antitrust revival attempt
Biden-era agencies (FTC/DOJ) try tougher merger guidelines and big-tech cases. Courts and politics still decide how far “hipster antitrust” goes.
2000s→Market
Private equity buyout boom
Cheap debt and large funds push PE into retail, healthcare, housing, and software. Leverage, fees, and exit timelines change how companies are run — and sometimes how workers and creditors fare.
1980s–90sMarket
Shareholder primacy and the deal decade’s aftermath
Hostile takeovers, junk bonds, and later “maximize shareholder value” norms push managers toward buybacks, spin-offs, and cost cuts. Labor’s share of corporate income is under pressure in many sectors.
1980sCourt
Chicago School antitrust — consumer welfare standard
Enforcement and courts narrow antitrust to short-term consumer prices and efficiency. Size alone stops being the crime; many mergers clear that were once politically radioactive.
Nuance Supporters say this killed politicized trust-busting. Critics say it slept through a generation of concentration.
1960s–70sMarket
Conglomerate wave — then breakup
Firms diversify across unrelated industries. Later decades reverse course: focus on core businesses, global scale within industries, and roll-up strategies.
1890 / 1914Law
Sherman and Clayton Acts
Foundational antitrust statutes target trusts, monopolization, and anti-competitive mergers/practices. Enforcement intensity swings with politics for the next century-plus.
What people disagree about
- Whether concentration is mostly efficient scale or mostly market power.
- Whether PE creates discipline or extracts value — evidence varies by deal and sector.
Where we are now
When prices feel sticky, ask: how many real competitors are left, who owns them, and what the last merger wave did to your metro.
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