3 ms·
> regulatory barriers Because markets are never anti-competitive on their own, oligopolies are only ever due to big bad regulators, right? Uh-huh. Some alterna
by jjoonathan 4y ago
> regulatory barriers
Because markets are never anti-competitive on their own, oligopolies are only ever due to big bad regulators, right? Uh-huh. Some alternate ideas about why the CC payment processors are an oligopoly:
1. They have a card in every wallet and a reader in every aisle.
2. They can force merchants to hide the fees they charge.
3. They don't just process payments, they arbitrate disputes.
(1) could be addressed by standardization (see: Europe). (2) could be outlawed. (3) could be replaced with better consumer protections or smoother small-claims process.
Most markets have a substantial undergrowth of perverse incentives and anti-competitive strategies. Killing the gardener doesn't make the weeds disappear.
- anamax 4y ago> (3) could be replaced with better consumer protections or smoother small-claims process. Doing that doesn't actually depend on eliminating Visa/MC, so the fact that it hasn't been done suggests that there are other barriers. If you want to argue that eliminating Visa/MC will also eliminate those barriers, some details would be nice.