Pluralistic: How corporate America built a better Roach Motel (07 Sep 2026)

The blog post discusses how corporate practices have evolved to create monopolistic businesses that effectively hold customers hostage by making it increasingly difficult for them to switch providers, thereby allowing companies to raise prices and lower service quality without fear of competition. It references recent academic research highlighting the trends of customer loyalty growth amidst declining customer satisfaction, and how this is part of a broader trend of enshittification in which companies prioritize profits over customer welfare.