February 15, 2014
Mergers Like Comcast-Time Warner Are NEVER Good For Customers
When one massive corporation merges with another massive corporation, the result is never good for customers. The spinmeisters can say what they will, but these mergers are not done to benefit customers, instead they are done to service greed. This is the capitalist formula: Grow, and grow some more, and then when it seems there’s no more growth potential, do whatever you can to grow yet again. And for many very large companies, it is the merger that has allowed them to continue to appease those shareholders. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts calls this a “pro-consumer” merger. “The combination of Time Warner Cable and Comcast creates an exciting opportunity for our company, for our customers and for our shareholders,” said Roberts in a media conference call. But that is a lie, as mergers like Comcast-Time Warner do not lead to lower prices and higher competition, they lead to the exact opposite, and that is hardly “exciting” for customers. But he is right about one thing, this is exactly what the shareholders want. These mergers are not about doing right by the customer, they are about doing right by the shareholders, and that includes top executive compensation.
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