Exxon, Profits, Speculation, and Monopolies

Profits
ExxonMobil just declared record quarterly profits. For the record, I’m a fan of capitalism.

This isn’t capitalism.

Any econ 101 student can tell you that when a company has unilateral control over a key component of the supply chain, that company holds monopoly power and will exert that power to maximize profits at the expense of its customers… who are powerless to stop it. (When a small group of companies share monopoly power together, it’s called an oligarchy. Monopolies and oligarchies are anathemas to capitalism. OPEC is an oligarchy. DeBeers is a monopoly.) ExxonMobil—no matter what they say about not extorting profits—looks like, smells like, and acts like a monopoly.

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