Especially when there are no other options, they have you by the...
“when there are no other options, they have you by the...”
The failure of the US government to enforce anti-trust law since the 1980’s has resulted in most industries being controlled by a few oligopolies allied with big government. Customer service and innovation thrives when there are many competitors chasing the consumer. When markets are dominated by huge corporations partnering with government to create barriers to competition, innovation and service suffers. Executives focus on cost cutting instead of creating new and better customer experiences. Costs, primarily headcount, are slashed resulting in a decline in quality and responsiveness. The savings flow into executive bonuses and the hands of Wall Street financiers.
Consider the great offshoring of manufacturing and customer service centers across many industries over the past 30 years. Did the quality of products and services increase? Were the lower costs passed to the consumer through lower prices? No. Millions of middle class experienced workers went job hunting, often taking lower pay and responsibility, even slipping out of the middle class into poverty. Corporations pocketed the savings and redistributed it increasing pay at the top and stock buybacks which also positively impacted their lucrative stock options. Wealth disparity in the nation today is at historically high levels. For the first time in our history, over the past decade new business creation is lagging bankruptcies.
Bust American, United, Southwest, and Delta into mulitple companies and turn them loose. Brutal competition will force them to find new ways to compete such as offering better products and better service. They might even discover there are plenty of very capable executives willing to work for much less than the ones they have who are failing.