John Oliver Breaks Down Corporate Consolidation on Last Week Tonight

John Oliver wants you to know that small business is the backbone of our economy — and he has the eerily echoing footage of U.S. politicians to prove it. “It’s that rare thing that ever politician agrees on,” said Oliver. “It’s that, support our troops, Ted Cruz can go f— himself, and South Dakota Senator John Thune can get it.” While small business is the backbone of the economy, these days, big business is getting bigger than ever thanks to mergers and acquisitions, which is what Oliver focused on during Sunday night’s episode of Last Week Tonight. Corporate consolidation means that independent-seeming companies like Tom’s of Maine and Burt’s Bees are owned by large corporations, 90% of the car rental business is dominated by three companies, 70% of the U.S. beer industry is owned by two companies, and online search is dominated by one company: “That’s right, Bing — the best way to Google something,” joked Oliver. Oliver even noted that his own parent company TimeWarner is attempting to merge with AT&T, which makes this story “a bit dangerous” for them to report. Luckily, Oliver seems convinced AT&T executives wouldn’t be able to get their service to work, because “AT&T: it’s the top telecom company around, alphabetically and nothing else.” Oliver isn’t opposed to all mergers or acquisitions, but since the late 1970s the U.S. econo...
Source: TIME: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized John Oliver Last Week Tonight Late Night Comedy Television Source Type: news