Word: middlemen
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...here that the real revolution lies. At the moment, India has one of the most fragmented produce-supply chains on the planet. Industry experts estimate more than 30% of all fresh produce is lost or spoils before it reaches the market. On average, goods pass through six or seven middlemen before a consumer can buy it, resulting in tortuous journeys, big markups and poor quality. Replacing that system requires not just building a modern, efficient network but adapting it to Indian conditions...
...system is a legacy of the 1940s and '50s, when chronic food shortages led the government to crack down on hoarding of produce by unscrupulous cartels. In 1966 the government introduced a new law that banned farmers from dealing directly with retailers and forced them to sell through licensed middlemen, called mandis. The law, which also aimed to give farmers a fair and consistent price, "was initially done with a good purpose," says Arpita Mukherjee, a senior fellow at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, a New Delhi-based think tank. But over the years it grew...
...Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. That provision forbade the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate with drug companies and healthcare providers on behalf of the 43 million Americans who rely on Medicare. The current system splinters the bargaining power of America’s elderly, creating private middlemen in the form of a slew of private insurance plan providers who in turn bargain with drug companies. With less purchasing power than the whole, drug companies sell their drugs at higher prices than they would in bulk, driving up costs for the government. It is simply nonsensical that Medicare...
...rare case of technology not squeezing out the middlemen, and travel agents and stockbrokers are surely jealous. But the explanation is pretty simple: over time, the tax code has grown more and more complex, much too intricate for the average taxpayer to want to wade into. Even the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which simplified the code by taking away many tax preferences, managed to add complexity by limiting certain deductions to people falling into particular income brackets. In 2001 and 2003, just about the time tax prep technology should have been cementing its hold on the mass market, substantial...
...feds tried to cut out the middlemen in 1994 by letting students at participating schools borrow directly from the Treasury. But private lenders have held on to nearly 80% of the market by improving service and offering discounts for such things as on-time repayment. Knowing that many students choose the first entry on a school's list of "preferred lenders," lots of colleges have used these lists to get lower rates for more borrowers, and some lenders have tacked on revenue-sharing deals. "We believed it made good sense to use money that would otherwise go into Citibank...