When a small number of firms gain outsized market power, they can set rules of trade, suppress wages and exploit workers, squeeze small producers, dictate terms to governments, and locks countries of the global South into dependent roles in global value chains. The problem of monopolistic or oligopolistic power thus is not merely economic: increased concentrations of corporate power give a handful of private actors extraordinary influence over what is produced, who benefits, what rules apply, and who works and under what conditions. For decades, competition policy has rested on an outdated microeconomic theory that understands market concentration through its effects on prices and consumer welfare and encourages regulators to be exceedingly modest on the grounds that the in-built competitive disposition within markets would check price hikes. This narrow approach overlooks how market concentration undermines workers’ bargaining power and weakens democratic decision-making, beyond simply resulting in increased prices and reduced consumer welfare. In response, competition policy should seek to check private power and serve the broader public interest by addressing a fundamental question: who governs our economy and on what terms? Monopoly or oligopoly power is a political structure and a solution to this problem must focus on redistributing governing authority across society rather than merely correcting market failures. Competition policies that are rooted in principles of anti-domination and seek to redistribute power in markets and society, will restore the clear presumption against mergers in concentrated sectors; pursue structural separation where firms control essential infrastructures; treat wage suppression, labor market, concentration, non-compete clauses, and abusive supplier contracts as primary antitrust harms; structure public procurement and development finance to prioritize diversified, cooperative, and community owned enterprises; embed democratization into green industrial policy to prevent the emergence of new monopolies.
