> For real life examples, see the classic USA situations of railway and oil magnates in 19th century - these monopolies weren't caused by the state and regulati

> For real life examples, see the classic USA situations of railway and oil magnates in 19th century - these monopolies weren't caused by the state and regulations, but by lack of it. In the case of Standard Oil, the consumers benefited greatly from the practices of Rockefeller. Despite controlling 90% of the market at one point, its output quadrupled in a single decade (1880-1890) and prices of kerosene dropped by threefold over the same time period. Standard Oil was simply the best at what it did and succeeded as a result. During the early 1900s, the market shifted away from kerosene to gasoline (thanks to Ford) and there was a large amount of competition entering that market. Its market share in oil production fell from 1898 to 1906 from 34% to 11%. Yet it was only in 1911 that Standard Oil was broken up by the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (which, funnily enough, was passed in 1890: at the end of the decade of massive increases in production and decreases in price by Standard Oil). The fact is that, in this case, the market function properly in spite of government interference, not thanks to it. Funny that you mention the railroads as well. The biggest threat to competition was not the companies in the free market, but instead railroad companies in control of the ICC, created in 1887. It was this government entity which allowed railroad companies, through law, to eliminate competition and screw the consumer by raising rates in a collusive manner.