How To Make Too-Big-To-Fail Businesses Obsolete

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While there's been some talk of getting rid of too-big-to-fail businesses, it doesn't seem like there's been any progress in getting rid of them or stopping them from getting bigger. 

R. Buckminster Fuller, the out-of-the-box thinking architect who invented the geodesic dome said, "

In order to change an existing paradigm you do not struggle to try and change the problematic model. You create a new model and make the old one obsolete.

Perhaps it's better to come up with ways that organically lead to the extinction of too-big-to-fail operations. Here are some ideas that fall short of banning them outright or breaking them up:

Make it LESS profitable for businesses to be too big to fail. Give smaller businesses some advantages that the biggest businesses, that conglomerates that have acquired other companies don't have access to. 

Make it less attractive or downright unattractive for big companies to acquire smaller companies. 

Develop new models and approaches that enable fast growing companies to leverage the benefits of economies of scale and find finance opportunities that don't require being acquired. 

Develop utilities that help smaller companies collaborate with each other for development, research, distribution, production-- so it is not necessary to become acquired or cut exclusive deals with one company. 

There are some new ideas here. Some of them could create new kinds of middle companies that help other companies coordinate and work together. Fund small business innovative research grants to help develop these operations. Fund research at universities to develop models and approaches that prevent big and empower small.  Encourage foundations to to fund academics with funds to create departments specifically focusing on maintaining small and medium sized businesses that stay connected to local communities. 

There is a massive bottom up revolution well under way, with some of the biggest, most fast growing new companies using bottom up approaches. Explore ways to use bottom up, connection, cooperation, interdependence approaches to keep small businesses small, or at least independent and not acquired by fortune 1000 companies. 

It would be nice if too-big-to-fail companies could be outright outlawed-- broken up or shut down. But that does seem to be likely. If the above approaches, and perhaps risk taxes-- these giant corporations have proven they are dangerous, so charge them risk insurance/taxes that make them not so profitable-- and reward them for breaking themselves apart. 

We need a new economics that supports local communities, that protects industries that produce good paying, meaningful jobs. It will take out of the box thinking to do it. This IS doable. 

Here's one good reason-- smaller businesses create a lot more jobs. If we keep businesses smaller and encourage bigger businesses to get smaller, we'll create more jobs. Let's approach getting business smaller the way we approached the Apollo moon landing program and the Manhattan project. Make it a priority, invest in it and get it done.