You hear this rubbish all the time – inflation is caused by too much government spending, along with wage increases.

Bunk! Higher wages and government spending don't push up consumer prices. 

In many cases, mega-corporations raise prices to increase their profits. They can do this because they face such little competition.

Worried about sky-high airfares and lousy service?

That's largely because airlines have merged from 12 carriers in 1980 to only four today.

Concerned about drug prices? Between 1995 and 2015, 60 leading pharmaceutical companies merged to only ten.

Upset about food costs? Four large companies now control 85% of beef processing, 70% of the pork market, and 54% of poultry.

Worried about grocery prices? Just three giants Albertsons, Kroger, and Walmart control 70% of the grocery sales in 167 cities. Monopolies can raise prices and keep them high because there's not enough competition to charge lower prices and grab their consumers away.

Right now, responsibility for fighting inflation lies with the Federal Reserve, which raises interest rates to slow the economy when prices rise. But this causes more unemployment, keeps wages low, and harms many working people.

An important way to avoid inflation would be to fight it at the source. Break up monopolies using antitrust laws so that a handful of private companies can't artificially raise prices.