Franchisors argue they are a single entity to avoid antitrust conspiracy charges. Simultaneously, they claim franchisees are separate businesses to shield themselves from labor laws, unionization, and wage liability, creating a powerful, contradictory legal shield.

Before the 1970s, antitrust law was used to prevent large corporations from exerting excessive control over small businesses. A franchisor dictating prices or suppliers to a franchisee was considered an illegal restraint of trade, a stark contrast to today's legal landscape.

Technology like broadband-connected POS systems gives modern franchisors a real-time data stream and surveillance capability over their "independent" locations. This allows a degree of centralized control that exceeds what was possible for classically integrated corporations like U.S. Steel.

Large-scale immigration programs, such as those for international students and temporary foreign workers, can be abused by multinational corporations. These companies use the programs to hire workers with fewer rights at artificially low wages, which drives down overall wages and displaces the domestic workforce.

The acquisition isn't a traditional consumer monopoly but a monopsony, concentrating buying power. This gives a combined 'Super Netflix' leverage to dictate terms and potentially lower wages for actors, writers, and directors, shifting power from talent to the studio.

Legal battles won by franchisors in the 1960s-70s weakened antitrust laws against "vertical restraints." This created the legal precedent allowing companies like Uber and Amazon to exert tight control over independent contractors without incurring employer liabilities.

With prices, products, suppliers, and even staffing levels dictated by the franchisor, franchisees have almost no operational discretion. Their primary path to profitability is suppressing wages and maximizing worker effort, making them risk-bearing middle managers rather than entrepreneurs.

Founders often see franchising as a way to scale without managing more employees. However, it shifts the people problem to managing franchisees. This requires enforcing brand standards and managing underperformers who are also business owners, a group that can consume 80% of your time.

Uber's algorithm offers drivers different wages based on their perceived desperation. When a driver accepts a low fare, it sets a new, lower ceiling for their future earnings, creating a downward wage spiral.