According to Barry Lynn in Cornered , “What Luxottica provides is one of the more dramatic illustrations of the march to monopoly… there is a good chance that you will find yourself dealing with Luxottica even if you buy your glasses at a fancy boutique in Beverly Hills or on Fifth Avenue, or if for sunglasses you favor your local REI or the fly fishing shop in Livingston, Montana.”
We see ads from the various optical local retail outlets announcing deals that suggest aggressive competition among competing firms but which, in Lynn’s words, conjure up “an illusion of competitive pricing.” Review the excerpts from Wikipedia below and note how the great preponderance of the local outlets for prescription glasses are controlled by Luxottica from Milan, Italy.
“As of 2008, Luxottica Retail had 6400 retail outlets in the United States, Canada, China, Australia, New Zealand,South Africa and the United Kingdom…Their retail banners include: Sunglass Hut International, LensCrafters, OPSM, Laubman & Pank, Budget Eyewear, Pearl Opticians, Pearle Vision, Surfeyes, Sears Optical, Target Optical, K-Mart Optical, Cole Vision Care, ICON, and ILORI. They also own EyeMed Vision Care, one of the leading managed vision care organizations in the United States. In January 2010, Luxottica Retail announced that it might expand its current facility.”
Elsewhere Lynn observes “When Wal-Mart threatens to deprive a producer of access to its shelves, the effect is no different from when Jay Gould refused to carry Pennsylvania Bluestone to New York.” (Gould was a 19th century ‘Robber Baron.’) “Wal-Mart possesses the ability to kill at will, which means that its power to govern the political economic systems under its control is entirely despotic in nature.” Lynn adds “Always Lower Prices is always an express trip not merely to rule but also to ruin.”
These are just two examples of scores of others provided by Lynn which covers the transformation over the past three decades of the United States’ (and world) economy from traditional free enterprise based on competition to monopoly or duopolies rationalized as promoting efficiency.
We need look no further for such a local instance than the extraordinarily profitable Lancaster General Health which controls, through ownerships and affiliations, three quarters of health care in the county and is seeking to absorb the market of its last formidable hold out, Ephrata Community Hospital.
How all this came about without legislation will be the next topic in a series based on this recently published and remarkable book.
Wow!! Very interesting!! It seems that we are reverting to a caste system, if you will, by way of separating those who have huge amounts of money from those who do not.
At one time our heroes were people who saved people’s lives, made a difference, fought for change, defended our rights…somewhere along the line hero worship focused on the people with the most money.
Now, in these tight money times, we will see morals and ethics corrupt in a struggle to regain our foothold. Liquor sales in Pennsylvania grocery stores is now on the table and gambling, all of a sudden, does not seem so bad after all.
Any relief at any price??