After a long time, I again saw representatives of the ruling Civic Democratic Party on television. Not a multicultural fanatic, but rather a moderate, slightly conservative pragmatist. But still, it’s futile, it’s futile, it’s futile.
Food prices, he says, are supposed to be solved by more competition. Is this like 12 other chains entering the Czech market strong enough to compete on an equal footing with Lidl and Billa? And 20 more banks will appear? Or will Lidl’s representatives be ashamed and split their chain into eight smaller ones?
We have stumbled upon a situation where competition cannot work on principle. Thus, the state needs to step in. To step in by regulation or, possibly, by expropriation. Or by bringing in or creating other players. There is no non-state solution.
Incidentally, the current oligopolistic structure of the market for food and fast moving consumer goods is due to the complete failure of the state in its regulatory role. It should have limited the size of the networks or restricted the entry of multinational players or found some other solution that would have kept the competitive situation competitive.
But this is the case almost every time. The more platitudes about the free market, the less market and the less freedom.
But this is something that various irrelevant right-wing politicians are completely unable to understand. Their brains crowd out anything that isn’t simple slogans about perfect competition and minimal government.