March 2, 2024

Welcome to Letters from CAMP, a newsletter on anti-monopoly activity in Canada and abroad, brought to you by the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project. In this installment we have:

• Professor Jennifer Clapp’s new book on the titans that run the global food system
• SCP’s new Never 51 series highlights the dangers of monopolies in housing markets
• Bezos cracks down on editorial independence at the Washington Post

Now let’s dive in.

Taking on Agriculture’s Titans

Jennifer Clapp, a leading Canadian expert on food security and corporate consolidation, has just released her latest book, Titans of Industrial Agriculture. The book explores how a small handful of agribusiness giants dominate the global farm input sector, controlling seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and machinery. In a story familiar to Letters readers, these firms have used their market power to dictate farming practices, squeeze farmers, limit biodiversity, and drive up food costs.

Clapp’s research shows how these corporations have entrenched their dominance through mergers, lobbying, and government subsidies, shaping food systems to prioritize corporate profits over food security. Her work has been a major force in understanding the structural causes behind food price inflation and supply chain vulnerabilities and Titans offers an excellent opportunity to dive deeper into the topic.

Last year, CAMP Executive Director Keldon Bester joined Professor Clapp on TVO’s The Agenda, where they discussed how monopolies at every stage of the food system—from farm inputs to grocery retail—impact affordability and sustainability. The message of that discussion is even truer today: if we want a resilient food system, we need to challenge concentrated corporate power.

📚What We’re Reading📚

• Matt Hatfield, The Rise of the Tech Oligarchs Part II: The Anatomy of Oligarchy (OpenMedia)
• Stefanie Marotta, Big Six bank earnings beat expectations, but executives warn of tariff risks (Globe and Mail)
• Luke Goldstein, Google’s New Private Tax (The Lever)

Social Capital Partners Launches Never 51 Series

As Canada reckons with its economic dependence on the U.S., our colleagues at Social Capital Partners (SCP) have launched the Never 51 series, showcasing ideas to boost Canadian economic resilience.

In their latest article, SCP exposes how financialization and corporate landlords have reshaped Canada’s housing market, making it harder for individuals and families to afford homes. Institutional investors are buying up increasing shares of rental housing, using economies of scale and pricing algorithms to drive up costs and limit tenant protections.

The piece shows how, by behaving more like a private mortgage insurer, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has favored large financial players and provided limited support for first-time homebuyers. SCP also raises important concerns about concentration in homebuilding industries, where a small number of players can act as bottlenecks on Canada’s housing supply. This has limited competition, slowed construction, and inflated home prices.

More than ever, new ideas are needed to make the Canadian economy more independent, resilient and dynamic. We at CAMP are glad to see our partners at SCP leading the charge.

📰 CAMP in the News 📰

• ​On hold: Telecoms in transition (The Logic)

Jeff Bezos: Personal Liberty for Me, Oligarchy for Thee

Jeff Bezos is finally dropping the charade and acting like a proper newspaper baron. In an internal memo, Bezos announced a radical shift in the editorial stance for the Washington Post, vowing that its opinion pages will now exclusively promote “personal liberty and free markets”—and will not publish dissenting viewpoints.

This ideological lockdown, an obvious effort to align the Post with Bezos’ corporate interests, has drawn intense criticism from journalists and media watchdogs. Jeff Stein, a Washington Post reporter, publicly called it a “massive encroachment” on editorial independence.

The move follows a familiar pattern: billionaires acquiring legacy media institutions and reshaping them to serve their own economic and political goals. Sohrab Ahmari at UnHerd described the shift as turning the Post into a “billionaire’s think tank,” cementing its role as a mouthpiece for libertarian orthodoxy.

Claiming to champion personal freedom while shutting down dissent is fooling no one. Bezos’ move is a reminder of what we already knew: when billionaires control the flow of information, we only have the freedom to agree with them.

If you have any monopoly tips or stories you'd like to share, drop us a line at hello@antimonopoly.ca

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