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You need look no further than Bell California, the poster child of how a few crooks can take over a small town and line their pockets. I don't share your pessi

You need look no further than Bell California, the poster child of how a few crooks can take over a small town and line their pockets. I don't share your pessimism about government. Bell isn't a regular occurrence, and most important, it's being dealt with in the courts. Overpriced everything in company towns, on the other hand, is baked into the design. Look no further than your average college campus, where one caterer tends to have negotiated the whole concession. Independents can't even set up if they wanted to and prices do reflect the fact. On my campus we can't even order pizza for a seminar, except through Sodexo. And there's nothing you can do.

vidarh 12y ago
> where one caterer tends to have negotiated the whole concession Airports is one of my favourite examples, because you're not even able to go elsewhere once you're past the security gates. It's not unusual for a single company to get the concession and then set up franchises of brands that people would normally expect to be separate. E.g. at Oslo Airport every place to buy food in the international departures area from Pizza Hut to the "upscale" champagne bar and lounges is run by the same company.