5 ms·

The Standard Oil claim is historically false. Kerosene prices fell dramatically during Standard Oil's tenure [0]. The competition did not benefit from Standard

The Standard Oil claim is historically false. Kerosene prices fell dramatically during Standard Oil's tenure [0]. The competition did not benefit from Standard Oil, but consumers benefitted dramatically. A malevolent monopoly needs government support to sustain itself for long (like today's telecoms/internet companies). All of the natural monopolies that have existed without rent seeking either greatly benefitted the consumer (Standard Oil, Google, Amazon), or became less consumer friendly and lost their monopoly (Microsoft). That isn't to say that the government shouldn't take extra steps to ensure powerful companies are upholding the spirit of the law (labor laws and liability laws, for example, at Amazon), but most of the anti-monopolist positions such as some described in the article seem horribly misguided and likely to have unintended consequences. Especially preventing acquisitions (how many talented founders start companies with the hopes of having an acquisition option) and preventing horizontal integration (would we have AWS and the rise of easy cloud computing if this law passed 20 years ago?) [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil

zozbot234 5y ago
Standard Oil is also a special case because a monopoly on the supply of environmentally harmful stuff is actually good for the environment - by the very action of charging a higher price, it helps compensate for a negative effect that would not be priced in otherwise. Breaking up Standard Oil was just a bad idea, all around.
- mistrial9 5y ago
  > by the very action of charging a higher price, it helps compensate for a negative effect that would not be priced in otherwise that is charitable interpretation to say the least.. Once monopoly revenue is passing hands, who is to say that safety, service and responsible behavior strengthens? There are manifold examples of a whole range of outcomes. A defense of oil monopoly markets is particulalry distasteful in light of a global, literal crisis due to oil consumption by the billions of barrels, right?
  - Dylan16807 5y ago
    > Once monopoly revenue is passing hands, who is to say that safety, service and responsible behavior strengthens? True, that could go bad. > A defense of oil monopoly markets is particulalry distasteful in light of a global, literal crisis due to oil consumption by the billions of barrels, right? Huh? Did you miss the point entirely? They're saying that a monopoly reduces the number of barrels, which reduces the crisis. What's distasteful about that specific part of the picture?
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

zozbot234 5y ago

Standard Oil is also a special case because a monopoly on the supply of environmentally harmful stuff is actually good for the environment - by the very action of charging a higher price, it helps compensate for a negative effect that would not be priced in otherwise. Breaking up Standard Oil was just a bad idea, all around.

mistrial9 5y ago
> by the very action of charging a higher price, it helps compensate for a negative effect that would not be priced in otherwise that is charitable interpretation to say the least.. Once monopoly revenue is passing hands, who is to say that safety, service and responsible behavior strengthens? There are manifold examples of a whole range of outcomes. A defense of oil monopoly markets is particulalry distasteful in light of a global, literal crisis due to oil consumption by the billions of barrels, right?
- Dylan16807 5y ago
  > Once monopoly revenue is passing hands, who is to say that safety, service and responsible behavior strengthens? True, that could go bad. > A defense of oil monopoly markets is particulalry distasteful in light of a global, literal crisis due to oil consumption by the billions of barrels, right? Huh? Did you miss the point entirely? They're saying that a monopoly reduces the number of barrels, which reduces the crisis. What's distasteful about that specific part of the picture?

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]