Should the government buy Tyson Foods?
As The Counter’s Jessica Fu reported this week, the Biden-Harris Administration announced on Monday that $1 billion from the American Rescue Plan will be allocated to curb consolidation and boost competition in the livestock industry. Yet the plan doesn’t sit well with everyone; critics say there’s no timeline in place to enforce existing antitrust laws. Matt Bruenig argues in Jacobin that if the feds want to curb market manipulation by companies like Tyson Foods and other major meatpackers, nationalization is the only reasonable approach. He proposes that the U.S. Treasury complete a leveraged buyout of Tyson with a low-interest loan, and says government control will help consumers and small farmers stay afloat. —Alex Hinton
