E22: Big Tobacco meet Big Tech?

06/01/23 • 17 min

In this week's episode we go back to the Price Spreads Report and look at the behavior of the Tobacco industry. Tobacco was dominated by one major player and they used many abusive practices to tilt the market in their favour, and a lot of these practices are still happening today.

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Previous Episode

E21: What happened to "Busy" Amherst?

I'm heading back to the Royal Commission on Price Spreads Report from 1934, specifically to look at the Chapter on Industry.

I wanted to look back at this chapter specifically for two reasons. First, the switch to a consumer welfare focus to our competition and anti-trust laws reduced people to only consumers. It removed any considerations about all the other roles people play in their lives like, friend, family member, business owner, worker, community member. It put the focus solely on our ability to spend money. This chapter on industry brought in so many of those other roles.

Second, Amherst historically had a large manufacturing base, and at the turn of the 20th century Amherst was known as "busy" Amherst. We've had plants that manufacture train cars, pants, trunks and baggage, boots, wool, steel i-beams, airplane parts, license plates, appliances, windows and doors, plastic bags, amongst many others.

Enjoy the introductory episode on Industry.

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Next Episode

e23: The more things change... the more they stay the same. Meat edition.

We're back to the Price Spreads Report, and this time we are focused on the Meat Packing Industry. This section fascinated me. I loved the commissions discussion about the largest meat packing companies expanding into and losing money in other business lines, like creameries. The commission found that the profits from the meat packing industry subsidized those losses, but those losses also harmed other industries. How can a small creamery compete with another creamery that can afford to lose money every year? And how can a small business today compete against companies that can lose money?

My favourite facts from the episode - In 1933, the top 2 companies - Canada Packers Limited and the Swift Canadian Company - had 85% of the sales in the industry. In 2021, the top 2 companies - JBL and Cargill - had 85% of the sales. Hmmm... The more things change, the more they stay the same.

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