I came across an interesting article today that shows how Australia isn’t as dominated by big business as some people believe. It also explains how supermarkets may not be gouging consumers all that much, but rather passing on cost-savings due to their scale economies. It’s refreshing to hear some data and non-anecdotal evidence on our situation in Australia. What do you think? 
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Most of the Australian media and population likes to knock tall poppies, and find someone to blame for everything they might not agree with. We seem to find anyway to knock down those (inc. companies) who have been successful/ If you look at Australia’s history, much of Australia’s wealth has been created by these big companies, take BHP for example.
This is unlike many countries, e.g. USA, which are proud of their national and multinational companies.
As long as there is free competition in the market place, like that which exists in the supermarkets, then it could be argued that a smaller number of larger companies may provide products cheaper to the consumer.
Companies with greater market share have greater buying power which can place downward pressure on prices. They can also reduce their own margins as volume increases and to better compete with their competitors. This also makes the businesses more profitable which we, with our compulsory superannuation heavily invested in top 200 Australian companies, benefit from. Many of us also are employed either directly or indirectly in the supply chains, giving us the employment and income to enjoy.
The problem arises when there is collusion as a small number of big players could easily sit around the table and manipulate the market to their advantage. Fortunately, Australian collusion laws are very strong, along with the penalties, which is a major disincentive. Collusion is also a rarity, rather than business as usual.
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Some interesting comparisons to other countries and similar size regions @natural.thought, thanks for sharing the article.
The supermarkets being the exception sounds right as well. Whenever I travel, I’m usually surprised at how much cheaper food is when shopping at the supermarket.
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Yes it was interesting to read about that!
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Precisely right @phb, economies of scale can certainly come in handy. Some companies deserve a bit of a knock-down (for example, companies interested in unfettered access to fossil fuels), but the media does go a long way in sensationalising and blaming any target.
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