US capitalism treats workers, consumers like 'suckers': Biden

The White House has expanded its war on junk fees to the rental housing market, announced a crackdown on price-fixing in food and agricultural markets, and unveiled draft merger guidelines as part of an ongoing push to aid US consumers.

President Joe Biden, who has made attacks on corporate greed and power a centrepiece of his presidency, explained the government's latest actions at the fifth meeting of his 18-agency Competition Council at the White House on Wednesday.

"It's about basic fairness," he told Cabinet members and other council members, underscoring the need to continue driving down inflation. "Folks are tired of being played for suckers."

The new measures came near the second anniversary of a Biden executive order creating the council and a government-wide attack on anti-competitive practices.

It has already taken aim at meatpacking, ocean shipping and consumer junk fees.

The White House said four decades of "misguided economic philosophy" had resulted in rising concentration in three-fourths of US industries, costing the median US household up to $5,000 a year in higher prices and lower wages.

"We cannot accept bad mergers that lead to mass layoffs, higher prices and fewer options for workers and consumers," Biden said. "I've said before, capitalism without competition isn't capitalism. It's exploitation."

Hannah Garden Monheit, the new director of Competition Council Policy at the National Economic Council, told Reuters news agency the administration would "use all the tools that we have" to curb anti-competitive practices.

While the junk fee crackdown has found strong bipartisan and public support, industry has chafed at the increased oversight, accusing the Biden administration of "regulatory overreach."

Morgan Harper, a former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau official, said Biden's drive for more competition was focused on creating more opportunities for small firms and entrepreneurs.

"We don't really have a competitive marketplace unless we have strong government enforcement," Harper, now at the American Economic Liberties Project, said.

"Concentration issues all over the economy are hurting workers, they're hurting small businesses, and they're hurting consumers."

Rental housing competition

Biden said three of the largest rental housing platforms — Zillow, Apartments.com and AffordableHousing.com — had agreed to disclose total, upfront data on rental costs such as application fees that can run to $100 or more per application, and "convenience fees" sometimes charged for paying rent online or disposing of trash.

A senior official said the move would not lower fees on its own, but increased transparency should cut them down by giving tens of millions of renters a chance to comparison-shop.

Biden has repeatedly called for federal agencies, Congress and private companies to address surprise fees that can jack up consumers' cost by 20 percent.

Three of the biggest airlines have already agreed to scrap fees for children to sit with parents.

Other actions announced on Wednesday included draft merger guidelines that pave the way for tougher scrutiny of planned mergers by Big Tech companies like Amazon.com and Alphabet's Google.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren hailed the guidelines as a sea change after four decades of lax antitrust enforcement.

"Giant corporations and their armies of lobbyists will cry foul at the prospect of more competition, but this action by the Biden administration is welcome news for American small businesses, workers, and consumers," she said in a statement.

The White House has said its broader efforts have led to more entrepreneurship. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and a historic series of relief packages, there were 10.5 million applications to start new small businesses in 2021 and 2022, the best two years on record.