For the last few decades, the number of monopolies in the United States has grown and become more influential in society and government. The issue of monopolies can be addressed in two ways: Federalism and lobbying.
Federalism can go both ways when it comes to the presence and power of monopolies. Because the United States has a two-party system, each state's legislatures are typically one-party oriented. So the power of monopolies would merely shift to favorable party states. As we see more and more every year states such as California loses companies since the state enforces large corporate tax rates and strong regulations. This leads to companies moving to tax haven states such as Delaware. Delaware alone hosts almost 70% of fortune-500 companies and a million businesses. And relative to the size and population of Delaware, there is an obvious discrepancy. There are few tax haven states in the United States with there being roughly only 6, however, if each has the same tendencies as Delaware then monopolies have the option to choose which state to register and pay taxes in. Also, as companies move to tax havens, and other states enforce stronger relegations then monopolies haven’t stopped or regulated. Similar to lobbying on the federal level, lobbying will move to a state-level so that monopolies ensure that tax havens stay tax havens, especially since they become the main industry provider. Rather, than moving towards federalism, the real issue of lobbying must be addressed. Lobbying has kept anti-monopoly legislation from being passed and has also ensured that various companies control an entire industry. For example, in 2021 Amazon and Meta were the two largest spenders on lobbying. The companies each spent roughly 20.1 million dollars each on lobbying against various acts. These were merely 2 companies, various industries also have their own lobbyist. The most lucrative being the pharmaceutical industry. “Big Pharma” has increased its lobbying budget every year with a new record high of 352 million dollars being spent in 2021. The industry also has over 1,700 lobbyists over half of the total lobbyists. The pharmaceutical industry has been one of the largest industries for the last decade and has controlled the regulations and standards of medications. Despite many medications being necessary or life-saving the pharmaceutical industry still charges extreme prices that cause many Americans to go into debt. So while federalism may able to hinder monopolies it may also allow them to grow even more. Rather the focus should be on limiting lobbying and the control companies have over the legislative process.
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