Power, Profit, and Public Interest (Part 2 of 2)

Competition Commission

In the early 1900s discovery of oil in Pennsylvania made Rockefeller the first oil billionaire. Ford’s invention of mass car conveyor line production made America the world’s richest nation. One of the pillars in America’s industry was the modern efficient steel production led by Carnegie: The President of US Steel lived in Gary Indiana. Some noted the frequent weekend dinners in his house with chiefs of competing steel firms as guests. Whistleblowers and honest, idealistic newspapers reported that the Gary dinners was not only for socializing. The host and his guests met to fix the price of steel and to define the area of each competitor so that others will not enter/sell steel in the said area assigned. This was the first world’s multibillion dollar cartels. Rockefeller (Standard Vacuum, StanVAC, Standard oil ESSO, MOBIL) hosted parties in his Scotland Estate with Chiefs of competing Firms like British Petroleum (U.K.), Royal Dutch Shell (U.K. Holland), Total (France), ENI ITALY, Chevron Tidewater (U.S.). Like Steel’s Gary Dinners, the chiefs of the Oil Firms fixed the price of oil and divided the world into.

The steel, oil, electrical equipment owners meant well at the start. Make good, reliable products at a reasonable price. The profits will be there. If the prices of these goods are too high, the public might not buy or look for a substitute or buy a cheaper brand. Thus cartels, combinations were made. Man’s greed overpowers man’s sanity. The steel, oil, electrical equipment industries forgot honesty, decency and fairness. The bible says nothing can be hidden forever. American price fixing was exposed because of Press Freedom. Some honest, courageous reporters, newspapers acted on tips from whistleblowers. The most sensational was the Watergate exposed by Washington Post’s young newsmen, Bernstein and Woodward. What would the world be without these daring, idealistic, naive, hardworking reporters. Price fixing is very dangerous. If food, medicine, services become too artificially high while the salaries of the workers/consumers remain the same, the consumer will be deeply hurt in the stomach. During the French revolution, Marie Antoinette when told that the people were hungry because food prices were too high, replied, “Let them eat cake.” The Competition Commission and the Energy Regulatory Commission were created to deal with this. Phil Star brought out this matter on its Aug 12 issue. Hopefully, before Sept 30 the Commissions can tell the 110 million Filipinos what they will do.