April 6, 2024Welcome to Letters from CAMP, a newsletter on anti-monopoly activity in Canada and abroad, brought to you by the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project. In this installment we have:
Now let’s dive in.
Some Team Canada: Banks Tighten Strings on Tariff-impacted CanadiansAs Canadian companies wrap themselves in the flag amid a surge in nationalist sentiment, we’re quickly finding out just how thin those maple leaf commitments are. In the face of heightened trade tensions, Bank of Montreal (BMO) has tightened mortgage lending rules for self-employed Canadians hit by tariffs in industries like steel, aluminum, construction, and transportation. This broad-stroke policy shift could impact hundreds of thousands of workers, restricting their access to credit when they need it most amid ongoing economic uncertainty. This opportunistic pullback highlights a deeper systemic issue rooted in Canada’s concentrated banking sector. Without meaningful competition among banks, affected Canadians have limited options if major institutions collectively decide to restrict access to credit. This situation is just one example of the underlying market power issue: Canada’s banking oligopoly is designed to serve one kind of Canadian, sidelining individuals whose incomes fluctuate or come from industries vulnerable to external shocks. Rather than standing up for Canadians, the banks’ moves amplify economic vulnerability, leaving entrepreneurs, tradespeople, and self-employed workers disproportionately disadvantaged. It underscores the urgent need for real competition and diversity in Canada’s banking system, allowing different institutions to meet the diverse and evolving financial needs of all Canadians. This moment demands action that increases competition and diversity in financial services as Canadians adjust to a new economic reality. Policy makers need to break the banking sector’s oligopolistic grip and create a financial system that serves Canadians of all backgrounds and economic situations. Building a genuinely competitive banking system is fundamental to Canada’s long-term economic independence and resilience. The Fight Against Monopoly Power Goes GlobalWhile the threat of monopoly power is a global one, the civil society response to it is just as far-reaching. Last week, CAMP came together with civil society groups from North America, Europe, South America, and beyond to coordinate responses and efforts to push back against rising monopoly power. Participants detailed the risk extreme concentrations of corporate power pose to the future of democratic economies and laid out how citizens, civil societies, and governments of all stripes can defuse that risk in the new global environment. We’ve long known that corporations like Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon wield disproportionate influence through digital infrastructures and control over vital economic and public sectors. Now that influence is increasingly put to use supporting alliances between corporate giants and authoritarian governments. Without sustained resistance, this trend will supercharge anti-democratic forces in countries around the world. The conference emphasized the necessity of coordinated global action, pushing for structural interventions including merger bans and corporate break-ups, and robust, responsive regulatory actions like the EU’s Digital Markets Act. Going alone, individual countries can be picked off by the globe-spanning corporations that want to lock in their power. United, especially across political divides, countries can safeguard our sovereignty and push for policies that rein in corporate power in the pursuit of the public interest. 📚 What We’re Reading 📚
Zuckerberg Leans on Trump to Kill Antitrust ActionMeta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had a busy week in Washington, personally lobbying President Trump and senior administration officials to avoid an imminent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) antitrust trial. The FTC trial, scheduled for mid-April, seeks to challenge Meta’s acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram, alleging they were deliberately designed to eliminate competition and preserve Meta’s social media dominance. Zuckerberg’s White House visit—his third so far in the early months of Trump’s presidency—underscores the lengths Big Tech will go to maintain their market power. This lobbying, coupled with Meta’s $1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural fund and a $25 million settlement that funneled money into Trump’s presidential library, raises serious questions about undue corporate influence on American institutions and policy making. With the FTC weakened by recent firings of Democratic commissioners under Trump’s directive, the integrity of independent regulatory oversight in the United States faces its toughest challenge to date. While the world reels from Trump’s tariffs, unchecked monopoly power continues its attempts to undermine democracy, fairness, and competition around the world. If you have any monopoly tips or stories you’d like to share, drop us a line at hello@antimonopoly.ca
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