8 ms·
> American chicken monopoly run by the likes of Tyson, Pilgrim's Pride and Perdue. That's not what "monopoly" means.
by AceJohnny2 8y ago
> American chicken monopoly run by the likes of Tyson, Pilgrim's Pride and Perdue.
That's not what "monopoly" means.
- nickpsecurity 8y agoYup. That's an oligopoly. If a monopoly, the pricing and service would've been so bad that they'd have tried this sooner.
- philip1209 8y agoIs "cartel" the word they are looking for?
- SaltyBackendGuy 8y agoCartel is probably much closer than monopoly.
- dragontamer 8y agoCartel implies a degree of collusion. Oligopoly seems like the most accurate word choice.
- nerdponx 8y agoI would be surprised if there wasn't collusion.
- yuy910616 8y agocartels are inherently unstable and very hard to maintain, plus it's outlawed. I'd be surprised if there is one.
- danieltillett 8y agoThey are not so hard to maintain when everyone acts rationally. You don't need overt collusion as long as everyone acts in a consistent manner and doesn't try to compete.
- nullbyte 8y ago"American chicken oligopoly" just doesn't have the same ring to it, lol
- yellowapple 8y agoWhat about "American chicken coalition"?
- chrisseaton 8y ago'Monopoly' seems to have become a completely meaningless word. I think it now sort of vaguely means a marketplace or any number of successful companies doing their own thing, and people complaining about a monopoly just seem to be complaining that there are any number of existing successful companies in a space they'd either like to be in as well, or that a company won't do exactly what they want.
- meddlepal 8y agoI've noticed this as well. Really weird change in the words meaning.
- droopyEyelids 8y agoIt'a not that weird if you follow the literature. One of the fundamental aspects of a monopoly is the ability to set prices and therefore extract money from customers without providing additional value- like a tax or a rent. Whenever few enough competitors exist that a company can begin to tax or collect rent without providing additional value, it takes on monopolistic characteristics.
- zzzcpan 8y ago> in a space they'd either like to be in as well But that's exactly what monopoly means, i.e. you can't get in and compete with those players. It sounds like you are justifying monopolized markets for whatever reason.
- dragontamer 8y ago"Mono" means ONE. Literally the number 1. Monopoly generally means ONE supplier that controls the entire marketplace. There are other forms of market failure relating to a small group having too much power in the market: Monopoly, Cartel, Oligopoly, Monopsony, etc. etc. Oligopoly or Cartel are far closer to what the article is describing. To use the word "Monopoly" here is simply incorrect English.
- 8y ago
- fudgy73 8y agoI'm not suggesting or implying this is happening in the chicken industry but an oligopoly that is colluding can act as a monopoly.
- dragontamer 8y agoThat's called a cartel. CNBC is a major news organization, so they generally should be using English correctly. I think a blog post can have technical errors here and there, but the standards for a proper news article are higher.
- solipsism 8y agoCNBC is a major news organization, so they generally should be using English correctly Doesn't make it an interesting topic of conversation.
- dguaraglia 8y agoOligopoly?
- coryfklein 8y agoOh god, why is everyone here so pedantic. "Monopoly" in this sense is meant to indicate that one is put in a bad negotiating position because the power/options are consolidated into few hands that can demand bargains that are beneficial to their side thus, in this case, disadvantaging Costco. Every time you use the word "monopoly" it doesn't have to have an exact 1:1 relationship with a law 101 textbook definition.
- aristophenes 8y ago"Monopoly" in this sense is wrong, because Costco has more than 5 suppliers that they can choose from to buy what they want, and they are getting chicken for really low prices. No one is getting extorted here, except for the farmers, and Costco is just looking to take advantage of them the same way the big chicken companies do. Chicken is half the price than grapes in a lot of places, by weight. It's insanely cheap. The real travesty is that these companies hold regional monopsonies so the farmers can only sell to one company, putting them in a bad spot where the chicken companies can dictate terms. Costco wants to be able to do that directly to farmers too, without the middle man.
- SN76477 8y agoAmerican culture is innumerate, you have to use words they understand.