Monopolization

Monopolized markets can feature some or all of  the following:

• Higher prices for customers – lack of  competition
• Lower wages for workers – lack of  competition
• Lower prices paid to suppliers to monopolist companies – coercion of suppliers
• Fewer choices for both consumers and suppliers

In summary, market concentration gives dominant companies significant power advantages over consumers, workers, and competitors.

• Less innovation

With fifty years of lax to no enforcement of US anti-trust (anti-monopoly) laws, virtually every corner of our economy is now monopolized.

A Survey of Concentration in the US Economy

Here are some examples of markets that are concentrated:

• Beer (2018)
• Anheuser-Busch – 42%
• MillerCoors – 24%
• Consolidated Brands – 9%
  Total market share – 75% 
• Meat Processing (2018)
• Tyson – 16%
• JBS SA – 19%
• Cargill – 11%
• Smithfield – 7%
  Total market share – 53% 
• Baby Formula(2018)
• Abbott – 40%
• Reckitt Benckhiser – 29%
• Perrigo – 11%
• Nestle – 9%
  Total market share – 89%
• Eye Glasses - Contact Lenses (2019)
• Luxottica – 40%
• National Vision – 13%
• Visionworks – 8%
  Total market share – 61%

  Home Improvement (2017)

• Home Depot – 45%
• Lowe’s – 36%
  Total market share – 81%
• Pharmacy Benefit Mgr (2024)[2]
• CVS – 21%
• United Health Optum – 20%
• Express Scripts – 17%
• Prime Therapeutics – 10%
Total market share – 68%
• Internet advertising (2020)[3]
• Google- 29%
• Facebook– 25%
• Amazon – 12%
  Total market share – 66%
• Cell Phone Providers (2019)
• Verizon – 35%
• AT&T – 34%
• T-Mobile – 17%
• Sprint – 12%
  Total market share – 98%
• Cell Phone Manufacturers (2025)
• Apple:  28%
• Samsung: 24%
• Xiaomi: 12%
  Total market share:  64%

• Grocery Stores (2023)[4]
• Walmart – 24%
• Kroger – 10%
• Costco– 9%
• Albertsons – 7%
  Total market share – 50%
• Hearing Aid Manufacturing (2018)
• William Demant – 39%
• Starkey Hearing – 19%
• Sonova – 16%
• Sivantos – 10%
  Total market share – 84%

• Cars (2023)
• GM – 17%
• Toyota – 14%
• Ford – 13%
• Hyundai Kia – 11 %
  Total market share – 55%
• Cigarettes-Tobacco (2019)
• Altria – 54%
• Reynolds American – 29%
• Imperial Brands – 8%
  Total market share – 91%
• Car Rental (2018)
• Enterprise – 27%
• Hertz – 15%
• Avis Budget - 8%
  Total market share – 50%

Airlines (2018)

• Delta – 22%
• American – 21%
• United – 18%
• Southwest – 15%
  Total market share – 76%

Market Concentration in the Grocery Store

• Single-serve yogurt/yogurt drinks – 4 companies = 97% of the market
• Carbonated soft drinks – 3 companies = 93%
• Canned tuna – 4 companies = 85%
• Mayonnaise – 3 companies = 83%
• Baby food – 3 companies = 82%
• Bagels – 4 companies = 77%
• Canned soup – 4 companies = 70%
• Canned tomatoes – 4 companies =58%
• Turkey products – 4 companies = 58%

Toothpaste

This example is borrowed from Teachout, Zephyr. Break ’em up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money. 2020.

In highly monopolized industries, especially in rural areas, companies hold significant advantages in hiring labor and reducing costs. Being a major employer in these regions means that non-unionized workers have little power in wage negotiations. Why would a company pay higher wages when its employees have few alternatives? Another benefit for monopolists is their ability to control their suppliers' production methods and profit margins. The US chicken industry exemplifies this well.

"Chickens represent a $90 billion-a-year industry, yet many farmers earn poverty wages and are burdened under crippling debt."[1]Three companies—Tyson, Pilgrim’s Pride, and Perdue—control nearly every chicken sold in America. They slaughter, pluck, gut, cut, chill, and ship chickens to stores and restaurants. These companies dominate chicken production in different regions, leaving farmers with little choice about whom to sell to. This consolidation gives the Big Three significant control over the prices farmers receive. But their influence extends far beyond pricing. They require farmers to sign contracts with arbitration clauses, ensuring disputes are settled privately.

Additionally, these contracts prevent farmers from discussing prices and other business matters with neighbors. The Big Three set specific conditions for chicken production, including standards for chicken houses. Their control also extends to lighting, watering, feed, medicines, and even which experts farmers can consult. To strengthen their grip further, they can require individual farmers to conduct production experiments without their knowledge. For example, they change rules about a certain type of feed for some farmers in a region and analyze the results. Sadly, when these changes don’t yield positive results, farmers suffer the losses while the Big Three remain protected from risk.

This chickenization model of monopoly control has spread to other food commodities, including various poultry, pork, and beef. Similar monopoly control extends throughout the agricultural sector. The result for farmers is that for every dollar spent in the grocery store on food, the farmer, who produces the food, receives less than 15 cents. This is in contrast to 1985, when they received 40 cents from our dollar spent on purchasing.