The Guardian reported:
For the past 100 years, US consumers have powered the US economy, their $21tn in annual spending supported by the business ethos that the “customer is king.” Today, that idea is as outdated as a Norman Rockwell painting, say consumer activists, historians, analysts, executives and customers themselves.
Instead, consumers are bearing the brunt of sweeping developments in the business landscape. Decades of mergers have limited consumer options. Companies are so big they can push industry-friendly regulation and charge what they want, safe in the knowledge that disgruntled customers have nowhere to go.
With customers stuck and competitors gone, companies can raise prices without improving customer satisfaction.
Ding, ding, ding... does anyone know why?
Private equity underwriters (PEU) rolled up companies in industry after industry. PEUs make profits from flipping those companies after mining them for cash via fees and special dividends/distributions.
TechGods brought our country abysmal customer service and plan take what little human element remained and outsource it to AI.
Both PEUs and TechGods utilized their political power to achieve those "industry friendly regulations." Alongside the rise in private equity came the term "policy making billionaire." It's a position powerful enough to repeatedly keep private equity's highly unpopular preferred "carried interest" taxation.
So what is being pushed by the powerful today?
Legislation is under consideration that would provide legal protection for software developers (rapidly moving to AI). Does AI care about human trafficking? Catholic Priests do, as should any decent human being.
Just as elected officials do not care what the public thinks, corporate executives and their investment sponsors care not about the customer, internal or external I saw it first hand at several healthcare companies.
Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren. Increasingly, more are one and for that so many suffer.
