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A More Concentrated Market Share - 7/26/16

Many key U.S. industries are becoming more concentrated, meaning that leading companies are increasing their market share and acquiring greater market power. 

Two analysts, Jason Furman, chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers and Peter Orszag, former head of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, report that between nineteen ninety seven and two thousand and seven, market share became more concentrated in three fourths of the industry sectors monitored by the census. 

In nineteen eighty five, the top ten U.S. banks controlled a bit less than twenty percent of banking assets.  By twenty ten, they controlled more than half.  The pharmaceutical industry has also become more concentrated, with large companies gobbling up smaller biotechnology firms.  The hospital sector is also more concentrated, with nearly four hundred and sixty mergers transpiring between twenty ten and twenty fourteen according to the New York Times. 

Mergers have left only There four major airlines in America.  There are many associated implications, including higher prices and a lack of small business formation as would-be entrepreneurs conclude that they cannot compete with dominant firms.    

Anirban Basu, Chariman Chief Executive Officer of Sage Policy Group (SPG), is one of the Mid-Atlantic region's leading economic consultants. Prior to founding SPG he was Chairman and CEO of Optimal Solutions Group, a company he co-founded and which continues to operate. Anirban has also served as Director of Applied Economics and Senior Economist for RESI, where he used his extensive knowledge of the Mid-Atlantic region to support numerous clients in their strategic decision-making processes. Clients have included the Maryland Department of Transportation, St. Paul Companies, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Players Committee and the Martin O'Malley mayoral campaign.