The arrangements -- beyond the already admitted collusion of fixing the commission fees paid by sellers -- paint a picture of competitors operating not so much as cutthroat rivals but almost as cozy partners, happy to consult each other on matters big and small to the detriment of their customers.
Ms. Shaheen accused Mr. Sununu of supporting big business and privatization of Social Security to the detriment of small businesses and the elderly.
Nor has there been much pressure applied to energy customers to simplify terms and conditions, which are invariably a source of detriment for small businesses.
DealBook » The Trade: TARP Move Is No Plus for Taxpayer | Jesse Eisinger of ProPublica says the Treasury Department isn't getting great bids on some investments in small banks, to the detriment of taxpayers.
In introducing the study, which was released in April, Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, said, "I am concerned that large corporations are at times abusing the substantial rights Congress has granted them in their intellectual property to the detriment of small businesses".
Then came revelations that funds were permitting favored big shots to trade after hours and to indulge in other shenanigans, to the detriment of small investors.
The federal government is the world's largest purchaser of goods and services -- eliminating the 23percentt contracting goal would be a major detriment to small businesses.
She devotes similar treatment to Carlos Slim, the Mexican magnate who manipulated the privatization of the national telecommunications infrastructure to yield his own lucrative chokehold over the market--one that has kept prices extraordinarily high, to the detriment of small business.
Some argue that they favor big boats to the detriment of smaller fishermen whose practices are more sustainable.
It's almost as though businesses are glory hunting when it comes to charity partnerships, to the detriment of smaller charities.
