MSNBC reports that America's biggest brewers may be engaging in anti-consumer behavior. The article states that both Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors, by far the two largest beer companies in the nation, are raising prices in tandem, during a recession, at a time when beer demand is down. Considering that the two companies control a whopping 80% of the American beer marketplace, this means that most beer drinkers are going to be taking a harder hit at a time when most cannot afford it.
The article's author, Rob Cox, suggests that it may even be time for government intervention. Personally I think that President Obama has more pressing concerns right now than the average cost of a six pack, but I would not be opposed to the Feds breaking up the current, foreign-owned beer conglomerates like they did to Ma Bell in 1984.
I don't think capitalism is any less or more evil than any financial system (hint: they're all flawed) but capitalism requires competition to truly be an effective system, and I think it's safe to say that AB InBev and MillerCoors have no true competition. This case also highlights a key paradox of capitalistic systems: competition is required for the system to thrive, but the ultimate goal of competition is to defeat your competitor. Therefore, any system left to its own devices while inevitably produce one or two winners and many, many losers - and cause the death of the Free Market. It is an equally large paradox, then, that government-issued rules and regulations are REQUIRED to keep a free market free.
In the end, though, this is just a greater incentive to me to support small brewers. The game is always stacked against the little guy, but now moreso than ever. Regardless of any government actions, consumers can always voice their allegiance with their wallet - and mine is to American-owned, locally produced beers whose quality matches their price.
I think it does matter to Obama what with the Beer summits and all.
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