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Monopolies. These are companies which have grown so large that their dominating influence on the market pushes out competition from smaller rivals.
壟斷指的是有些公司不斷茁壯成長,最後主導了整個市場,並因此壓縮小企業的生存空間。
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Monopolies can often harm the prospects for new businesses and force customers to pay higher prices.
壟斷經常傷害新創企業發展,並迫使消費者支付更高費用。
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And that’s bad for any country.
這對任何國家來說都不是好事。
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America, and many other nations, have fair competition laws that ban monopolies.
與許多國家一樣 ,美國訂有禁止壟斷行為並鼓勵公平競爭的法律。
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Yet, as mega corporations seem to get bigger and bigger, you have to wonder, where is the distinction?
然而,隨著這些企業巨人日益擴張,不禁令人疑問:究竟超大企業與壟斷有何不同?
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Are megacorporations becoming monopolies?
企業巨人是否正在走向壟斷一途?
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We’re going to explore a few of America’s largest companies.
我們將探討一些美國大公司的案例。
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Just to be clear, these companies are not officially considered monopolies, although they have come under scrutiny by the government for encroaching on fair market competition.
在此先澄清一下,這些公司未被正式認定為壟斷了整個產業,但它們都因為傷害了市場公平競爭而被政府盯上。
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First let’s talk about Google, a company that made nearly $70 billion dollars last year.
首先談談 Google。這間公司去年賺進約 700 億美元。
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It owns companies like YouTube, Android, and Waze. But it’s had numerous run-ins with the Federal Trade Commission.
它旗下擁有 YouTube、Android 系統與 Waze 導航程式。但它曾與聯邦貿易委員會 (FTC) 交手多次。
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Recently, a leaked FTC report from 2013 revealed just how close the FTC was to bringing charges.
最近流出的一份 FTC 於 2013 撰寫的報告透漏了 FTC 當時差點就要對 Google 提出控訴。
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Google was accused of illegal practices like promoting its own affiliate websites in google search results, and restricting advertisers’ abilities to use other search engines.
Google 遭控的非法作為包括搜索結果大力宣傳旗下網站,以及限制廣告商使用其他搜索引擎。
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The report said, Google’s conduct resulted in "real harm to consumers and to innovation in the online search and advertising markets."
報告指稱,谷歌的一切作為「對消費者、網路搜尋創新能力與廣告市場帶來了實質上的傷害。」
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However, Google ended up settling with the FTC out of court.
然而,Google 最後卻與 FTC 在庭外和解了。
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Monsanto is another huge company that’s been accused of monopolistic practices.
孟山都則是另外一間同樣因壟斷行為而遭控告的大型公司。
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They have patents on genetically modified seeds.
孟山都擁有基因改造種子的專利。
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Farmers are forced to purchase seeds every year instead of replanting, to avoid patent infringement.
而農夫無法直接重新栽培,而是要年復一年被迫購買他們家的種子,以避免違反專利法。
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Monsanto remains the leading supplier of GM seeds, along with other agricultural products such as the weed killer RoundUp, and a number of farming tech firms.
孟山都不僅是基改種子最大供應商,更擁有其他像是除草劑「農達」等的農用產品,以及一些農業科技公司。
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According to Food and Water Watch, in America, 80% of corn and 93% of soybeans are grown from Monsanto GMO seeds.
根據食品與飲水觀察組織,在美國約有 80% 玉米與 93% 大豆皆出自孟山都的基改種子。
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Then there’s Microsoft, a company that made almost 90 billion dollars last year.
接下來談談微軟這間公司。它在去年賺進約 900 億美元。
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They own brands like Windows, Xbox, Hotmail, and Bing.
旗下擁有 Windows、Xbox、Hotmail 與 Bing。
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In the ‘90s, the huge corporation barely escaped being split in two by an anti-trust lawsuit brought against them by the government.
在 90 年代,該公司差點因政府提起的反托拉斯訴訟而被迫分拆成兩半。
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The lawsuit alleged that Microsoft promoted their own web browser on the Windows operating system, and shut out competitors.
微軟遭控在 Windows 作業系統宣傳自家網路瀏覽器,並封殺其他競爭對手。
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In 1999, a judge did find that Microsoft "maintained its monopoly power by anticompetitive means."
1999 年,一名法官查有實證,發現微軟「靠著反競爭手段維持壟斷能力」。
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However, this verdict was later overturned.
不過這項判決隨後便遭到推翻。
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How do some of these gigantic companies escape anti-trust regulation?
這些企業巨人究竟是如何規避「反托拉斯法」規範的?
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Well, many of the subsidiary brands within the parent company occupy separate markets, as delineated by the FTC.
如 FTC 所述,他們靠著在母公司旗下建立子公司來鎖定不同客層。
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For instance, another corporate giant, Unilever, owns brands in different niche markets, like "ice cream", "premium ice cream" and "super premium ice cream".
像是另一間企業巨擘聯合利華 (Unilever) 便針對不同消費者推出專屬品牌,像是「冰淇淋」、「尊貴冰淇淋」與「超級至尊冰淇淋」不同市場區隔。
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Also, the mega-corporations have a huge amount of financial and lobbying power.
此外,這些企業巨人還擁有龐大的金融與游說能力。
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For example, Google was the fifth largest political lobbyist in 2013.
舉例來說,Google 在 2013 年名列第五大政治遊說團體。
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And Monsanto has spent almost $70 million dollars since 1998 on agricultural lobbying.
而孟山都自 1998 年來,已在農業遊說上花費了近 700 億美元。
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Clearly, these giant companies have major influence in their respective markets.
顯而易見的,這些企業巨人在各自市場裡呼風喚雨。
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And even if they aren’t technically violating anti-trust laws yet, they are right on the cusp of what is considered a monopoly.
就算嚴格來說他們沒有違反反托拉斯法,但其實也已與壟斷相去不遠。
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In order to regulate against monopolies, the government has developed what are called anti-trust laws.
為了防止壟斷, 政府擬定了「反托拉斯法」。
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To learn how these laws work, check out our video here.
想知道這些法律如何發揮成效,請看這裡的影片。
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They were called trusts back then, but now we call them monopolies.
它們以前被叫做「托拉斯」,但我們現在都叫它們壟斷企業。
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Monopolies can force consumers to pay higher prices, and make it impossible for other companies to enter the market.
壟斷企業能逼迫消費者花較高價格購買產品,並讓其他公司幾乎不可能進入市場競爭。
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Because of their size, they can hurt the economy, and even skirt government regulations.
由於它們規模龐大,它們能對經濟造成傷害,甚至還能規避政府法規。
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