How America became uncompetitive and unequal

that's generally not true. For most procedures done in hospitals there is nearly no reason why patients can't shop around. With basically the only exception being the ER, for true emergencies.

Moreover, even if NOT ALL patients shop around, say, even just 10%, there would be enough momentum going to put pressure on doctors to improve quality of care and decrease costs.

There are currently shortages of another basic good: housing.

It's a mistake to think that our economies are any the less planned. Fraud may be policed at the low end, but at the high end (servicer fraud; pension rip offs) it is rife and largely unpoliced.

Shortage of housing in the US is only local, and it's a feature, not a bug. Voters want a shortage so that they can buy a house in a "good neighbourhood" to move away from poor people. It's almost never explicitly stated that way but that's the way the votes go.

Whole new towns are incorporated around the US to avoid poor school districts. People impose new taxes on themselves, something otherwise unheard of, to do that. Proposition B passed in SF just this month to limit new developments and will probably lead to more limits in the future. Conservative south and urban liberals united at last.

This is the system working as intended, fulfilling the wishes of its constituents.

TLDR, Because of monopolies (or such as the opinion of the article).

Is that really all it is? You see, I thought it may be something to do with the fact that my generation of kids (Gen X) growing up played 3 hours of video games and watched 2 hours of TV a day (Gen Y even more). Don't you think that may just slow down creative entrepreneurial minds a bit? What about the 20% of younger adults on antidepressants? 10% of them smoking pot (also known to quell ambition) What about the highest divorce rates ever? the most kids in day care (being raised by a stranger), the lowest availability of a family sanctuary to nourish a child growing up in the world. To encourage them and let them worry about things like learning without all the turmoil and drama. You don't think that may have made a difference did you? What about kids becoming sexually involved ever younger. You don't think that sexual infatuation would be any kind of distraction from things like ambition and education would you?

Also, genXers and after are very lazy. They were given too much and too little asked/expected of them. Less time has been spent by parents raising their kids in every generation since the great depression. How are kids supposed to become responsible, hard working adults when they are left to their own devices and/or raised in day care? How can a country compete when 1/2-1/3 of the generation is lazy (low work ethic).

Public education has been dumbed down to let the disadvantaged and minorities feel equal. I believe that his was never the proper approach. As such though, kids aren't even learning as much, when they actually should be learning more than the previous generations. The efforts to help minorities and inner city residents have been terribly mishandled, creating government dependent drones who end up in prison, or on welfare/disability over time. This has in many case become a growing and unhealthy co-dependent relationship between the poor/minorities/illegals and the Democrat party.

Look at all the factors which go to play in creating a successful difference maker in a society. What would put someone at and advantage? I would say first of all a loving family who spends time raising their kids themselves. Teaching them all the right things to do in life. Next, an opportunity to learn. Not just an opportunity either, a proper education that makes it interesting. Thirdly, I think that certain demands have to be put on a child as they grow up. Responsibilities and duties. Not that I think kids should study and do chores all day. I believe that kids today do too much homework at a young age. Creativity cannot be taught. Bored kids with a little regulation and opportunity can create their own entertainment and it usually involves a whole lot of creative thought. A kid sitting in front of a TV or video game all afternoon will never experience this.

These things foster ambition and all the tools needed to follow that ambition to fruition (Including the support system to keep them believing in themselves even after failing numerous times along the way)

Last but not least. Free trade and illegal immigration fundamentally changed the workforce of the USA too quickly for us to react. Labor and manufacturing jobs went overseas, or went to illegals. Manufacturing was always a trade that would slowly disappear because of robotics and automation, but not in the span of 10 years. This rapid shift caused many people to gain massive amounts of wealth (the Walton's for example) and at the same time, put many people out of work. It happened so quickly that the workforce could not adapt fast enough to re-train or let people retire as manufacturing becomes obsolete. Illegals make a large amount of wealth for a few, but at the same time put a tax and health care burden on all of our backs as we pay for their education, welfare, and emergency room visits.

I didn't hear any of this in that opinion article, only that monopolies cause these problems. Funny thing is that the monopolies are a mere side effect of a lack of all I have described that was missing from previous generations.

Breaking monopolies into smaller pieces is only going to cause 80% of the countries wealth to be shared by 1.5% of the population instead of 1% (a poor solution IMO)

> Wal-Mart delivers value for shareholders because they attract customers because they're cheaper and more efficient.

That doesn't really follow; it could also be, for example, that Wal-Mart delivers value for shareholders because they drove out all the competition and attract customers because they are the only place to shop at.

I'm not saying that's necessarily true for Walmart, but it's obviously true for US internet providers, to give just one example.