One of the indicia that I would look for of, is this an area where I want to dig a little deeper

for a problem of the middleman economy, is it's an area where it seems like technological change

should have really disrupted the rule of the middleman, and it hasn't. And that's a sign that

there's something wrong. I'm Bethany McLean. Did you ever have a moment of doubt about capitalism and whether greed's a good idea?

And I'm Luigi Zengalis.

We have socialism for the very rich, rugged individualism for the poor.

And this is Capitalism, a podcast about what is working in capitalism.

First of all, tell me, is there some

society you know that doesn't run on greed? And most importantly, what isn't? We ought to do better

by the people that get left behind. I don't think we shouldn't kill the capital system in the process.

While Americans rely on debit transactions for the necessities of life, Most are unaware of the networks that drive those transactions, nor are they aware that one company, Visa, has monopolized debit transactions, penalized industry participants that seek to use alternative debit networks, and co-opted innovators, technology companies, and financial institutions to forestall or

snuff out threats to Visa's debit network dominance.

So begins the lawsuit the Justice Department filed against Visa on September 24th, which alleges

that Visa illegally maintains a monopoly over debit network markets.

Earlier today, the Department of Justice sued Visa for violating

sections one and two of the Sherman Antitrust Act. We allege visa is a monopolist in the debit

transaction markets that is violating federal antitrust law and inflicting often hidden,

but significant harm on American consumers and businesses.

According to the complaint, more than 60% of debit transactions in the United States run on Visa's

debit network.

Visa operates the largest debit network in the United States.

A debit network facilitates the electronic transfer of funds directly from a consumer's bank account to the

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