Corporate consolidation has been getting a lot of attention lately. But it isn’t a new phenomenon. It’s been on the rise since the ’80s, and it’s led to just a handful of companies controlling entire industries and fewer companies out there to deliver goods and services.

“One really good example would be health care — this is a pretty concentrated sector in the U.S. economy,” said Kate Bahn, director of labor market policy and chief economist at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. “[Consolidation] is when there’s hospital mergers … maybe one big management company overarching a whole sort of sector in one location.”

But it means a lot more than companies just getting bigger. Corporate consolidation has a big impact on the way our economy is shaped.

On today’s show: How corporate consolidation influences wages and consumer prices — and why it calls into question the success of capitalism.

In the News Fix, we’ll discuss how a spike in global food prices could trigger unrest around the world and the fate of Sarah Bloom Raskin’s nomination to the Federal Reserve board. (We taped today’s episode before she withdrew her nomination.)

Also, listeners celebrate Kimberly’s official spot in the host chair and a debate over who is more introverted!

Here’s everything we talked about today:

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