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Actually, free markets have a very efficient way of dealing with monopolies: it's called competition. Only when competition is restricted by governments (throug

by nickpp 3y ago

Actually, free markets have a very efficient way of dealing with monopolies: it's called competition. Only when competition is restricted by governments (through regulations, certifications, patents and such) can a lasting monopoly be achieved. > countless times in American history Please provide some examples then. The most widely touted, Standard Oil, was already losing marked to its healthy competition before antitrust action even started: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil#Legacy_and_criticism_of_breakup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil#Legacy_and_critic...

borski 3y ago
American Tobacco Co - in 1890 and, through acquisitions and mergers, came to control virtually the entire American tobacco industry with around 150 factories. The U.S. Court of Appeals eventually deemed it in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and forced the company to dissolve. Andrew Carnegie's Steel Co. - created a vertical monopoly in the steel industry by obtaining control over every level involved in steel production, from raw materials, transportation and manufacturing to distribution and finance. By 1897, he controlled almost the entire steel industry in the United States. In 1901, became part of the world's first billion-dollar business when it merged with a group of other steel businesses under the name U.S. Steel Corp. (ticker: X), to become the largest company in existence at the time, which remains among the largest steel producers in the world. AT&T - operated as a monopoly in the telephone industry for many decades until 1982 when it was forced to break up into eight smaller companies, almost all of which have since become a part of AT&T again.
- nickpp 3y ago
  AT&T's monopoly was definitely government-granted: there was even a law forbidding users to install their own 3rd party telephone receiver "to protect the AT&T network"! I am not familiar with the other 2 cases but I wouldn't be surprised if it was, again, government-granted or not an actual monopoly. Think about it, it's logical: why wouldn't competing startups attack a monopolized market? It's ripe for disruption, after all. Monopolies can arise on the free market but unfettered competition will always defeat them.

by nickpp 3y ago

borski 3y ago

American Tobacco Co - in 1890 and, through acquisitions and mergers, came to control virtually the entire American tobacco industry with around 150 factories. The U.S. Court of Appeals eventually deemed it in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and forced the company to dissolve. Andrew Carnegie's Steel Co. - created a vertical monopoly in the steel industry by obtaining control over every level involved in steel production, from raw materials, transportation and manufacturing to distribution and finance. By 1897, he controlled almost the entire steel industry in the United States. In 1901, became part of the world's first billion-dollar business when it merged with a group of other steel businesses under the name U.S. Steel Corp. (ticker: X), to become the largest company in existence at the time, which remains among the largest steel producers in the world. AT&T - operated as a monopoly in the telephone industry for many decades until 1982 when it was forced to break up into eight smaller companies, almost all of which have since become a part of AT&T again.

nickpp 3y ago
AT&T's monopoly was definitely government-granted: there was even a law forbidding users to install their own 3rd party telephone receiver "to protect the AT&T network"! I am not familiar with the other 2 cases but I wouldn't be surprised if it was, again, government-granted or not an actual monopoly. Think about it, it's logical: why wouldn't competing startups attack a monopolized market? It's ripe for disruption, after all. Monopolies can arise on the free market but unfettered competition will always defeat them.