> Competition is always good, that is practically an axiom of capitalism. Not quite. Taken too far it leaves nothing for R&D. Fortunately this tends to balance

> Competition is always good, that is practically an axiom of capitalism. Not quite. Taken too far it leaves nothing for R&D. Fortunately this tends to balance over time, in part because as margins drop small players are squeezed out, competition cools, and margins stabilize. In fact, one of the biggest success stories for central planning and protectionism—postwar Japan—involved removing domestic competition for a handful of megacorps to let them charge higher prices, then encouraging them to pool R&D resources so they could Go Forth and Conquer. So, as nice as competition is, always is an overstatement.