The dynamics of our surroundings are structured in such a way that there seems to be something for every single individual. This is largely the case because of world’s ability to complement different needs. By having a knack to reshape itself under any given circumstances, the world keeps our growth avenues open, thus giving us a fair shot at pursuing constant progression. However, it’s barely as perfect as it sounds. While the flexibility in play here certainly boasts some serious upsides, we cannot overlook the element’s tendency to create volatility. It’s nice to be able to swing the tide in various directions, but we must accept that it’s not always done with ethical intentions. Hence, as our way of neutralizing these situations, we closely regulate every action across the board. Each area tends to have its own regulatory body, which is responsible for enforcing regulations without disturbing the area’s growth. When you look at it from afar, the idea appears to be quite straightforward, and that is accurate, at least under some capacity. Nevertheless, a good chunk of it has been redefined by technology. In today’s era, regulation is no longer just about penalizing the lapses. Instead, the concept has also become a lot about moving alongside the industry players in a bid to gauge how fairly they are behaving around an unprecedented reality, and according to recent signs, companies like Amazon and Walmart might not be doing it right.
The Federal Trade Commission has officially ordered nine companies, including Amazon, Walmart, and Proctor & Gamble etc, to put-forth detailed information about their logistical operations, as the agency tries to find the root cause for current supply chain disruptions. If we put our stock in certain reports, we can say that the internal consensus deems excessive consolidation to be the reason behind country’s ongoing problems within this context. The cracks had begun to pop up when Covid 19 significantly increased the load on supply chain. A sheer lack of collective effort essentially scripted our failure in meeting the population’s needs. As if such insufficiency wasn’t enough, few companies that were running the show used a crisis to benefit their pockets by charging unjustifiable fees, thus further deepening the issues for suffering customers.
“We’ve had an incredible amount of consolidation in the supply chain. … That’s why it’s been unable to withstand the kind of shock we’ve seen with the pandemic,” said Diana Moss, president of the American Antitrust Institute. “We are now learning the hard way what 40 years of unbridled consolidation and lax merger enforcement mean.”
U.S. government agencies have been out to solve issues like unfair market consolidation for a while now. Not long ago, Biden administration had issued an executive order, which insisted the regulators to take stringent actions against any attempts of consolidation in ocean shipping and freight rail industries.
It must be noted that the current probe by FTC doesn’t come with chalked up actions. For now, the agency is only viewing it as a fact-finding investigation, but the results can surely supplement future regulatory measures.
