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Perhaps the reason you have trouble thinking of monopolies that aren't government sanctioned is because anti-trust law already prohibits monopolies from forming
by nerfhammer 15y ago
Perhaps the reason you have trouble thinking of monopolies that aren't government sanctioned is because anti-trust law already prohibits monopolies from forming unless government sanctioned.
The exceptions that are sanctioned are examples in economic theory of "natural monopolies", typically utilities, where competition would be highly impractical. For example, it would be impractical to have many different competing networks of privately owned telephone poles, sewer lines, water lines, etc. serving the same municipality. So a natural monopoly is allowed to exist but is heavily regulated and may face price controls.
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_monopoly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_monopoly
- kiba 15y agoPerhaps the reason you have trouble thinking of monopolies that aren't government sanctioned is because anti-trust law already prohibits monopolies from forming unless government sanctioned. I remember anti-trust law being used against smaller companies because lawyers find it easier to persecute than fighting against bigger companies. Even anti-trust regulations can be used to decrease competition. Sometime it's better to opt for the least worst option rather than opting for a solution that kill the patient.
- nknight 15y agoMicrosoft aside, Standard Oil, Kodak, AT&T, and, well, AT&T-2, off the top of my head. These are/were "smaller companies"? Antitrust claims get tacked on to a lot of lawsuits by overzealous attorneys, but they're usually dismissed out of hand. Serious antitrust litigation is rare, and by definition targets companies that are large in their particular industries.