On one hand, the government has just waved through one of the biggest banking mergers of the last 20 years. On the other, they’ve been waving the big stick at Australia’s supermarket oligopoly.
The Emerson review could have recommended binding arbitration and giving courts the power to force supermarket chains to divest stores, but what it has recommended will put the big chains on notice.
US courts have had the power to break up badly behaving corporations for more than a century. There’s a bill before the Australian Senate that would give our courts the same power.
Dan Andrews, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University and Elyse Dwyer, Macquarie University
New research finds Australian industries are becoming concentrated with greater power to charge high prices. Unlike US firms, Australian firms are not required to report merger plans to authorities.
Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
I graphed the average online rate for a $10,000 deposit against the Reserve Bank’s cash rate, going back to 2010. After seeing what that graph reveals, you’ll want to call your bank.
The inaugural chair of the ACCC says Gina Cass-Gottlieb’s experience opposing the ACCC in court will prove invaluable, and that it’s time to appoint a lawyer as chair.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says the sheer dominance of Google and Facebook has distorted other businesses’ ability to compete on their own merits.
Two reports have highlighted the risk of severe gas shortages in the eastern Australian market, prompting calls for the federal government to restrict exports.