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I'm sure you have seen this logic before whether talking economic or politics, that free markets prevent monopolies. How can this happen? Even without political protections, larger companies can often hurt competition. Just look at telecommunication for example. We broke a monopoly and still have only 5/6 phone companies in total.
If ma bell was still intact it would die a thousand cuts from startup cell companies undercutting them.
Landline phone is dead, its day is done, some people didn't get the memo yet.
Things change fast, the bigger lumbering companies will fall victim to the smaller nimble competition.
Kodak was tops in photography, 130K employees, then...bankrupt, gone. They didn't change.
They didn't acknowledge chemical film is dead.
Monopolies are a big fat target in developing mkts, I'd leave them alone.
Don't underestimate the lone entrepreneur vs king kong.
If ma bell was still intact it would die a thousand cuts from startup cell companies undercutting them.
Landline phone is dead, its day is done, some people didn't get the memo yet.
Things change fast, the bigger lumbering companies will fall victim to the smaller nimble competition.
Kodak was tops in photography, 130K employees, then...bankrupt, gone. They didn't change.
They didn't acknowledge chemical film is dead.
Monopolies are a big fat target in developing mkts, I'd leave them alone.
Don't underestimate the lone entrepreneur vs king kong.
Free mkts EAT monopolies.
I'm not so sure. Big companies eat up smaller and more adaptable companies in the same industry. For instance Apple buying out Next Computers (bringing back Steve Jobs in the process) or Walt Disney Company buying out Pixar or LucasFilm. NBC-Universal buying Dreamworks. WWF buying out ECW (in bankruptcy.) I can go on for a long while.
The funny thing with Ma Bell is three baby Bells are three major telecommunication companies, AT&T, CenturyLink and Verizon. It seems like telecom is a natural monopoly...
The example of Kodak merely was because they were late to adapt to the emerging digital print, not so much they were a monolith.
I don't think it is so much the free market, rather companies being monoliths and not adapting due to groupthink or other corporate culture getting in the way.
If ma bell was still intact it would die a thousand cuts from startup cell companies undercutting them.
Landline phone is dead, its day is done, some people didn't get the memo yet...
"IF" is the operative word here. Ma bell ruled supreme until, thankfully, our government stepped in.
"...This divestiture was initiated by the filing in 1974 by the United States Department of Justice of an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T..."
Quote:
Originally Posted by jonesg
Things change fast, the bigger lumbering companies will fall victim to the smaller nimble competition.
Kodak was tops in photography, 130K employees, then...bankrupt, gone. They didn't change.
They didn't acknowledge chemical film is dead...
Smaller companies win sometimes, but more often than not, monopolies stifle the little guys by selling below their costs and taking a loss until they put their competition out of business or using their vast wealth to tie up their competition in court with frivolous lawsuits. Fighting corporate consolidation is a continuing battle that never ends and in many cases it takes our government to put a halt to it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jonesg
Monopolies are a big fat target in developing mkts, I'd leave them alone.
Don't underestimate the lone entrepreneur vs king kong...
Don't underestimate the unfair power that monopolies provide.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jonesg
Free mkts EAT monopolies.
LOL, sure they do. People who believe this probably still believe that trickled on economics creates wealth (it does actually, but only for the wealthy)...
Not when there are barriers to entry. When the number of market participants is limited, collusion becomes more effective than innovation. Unregulated monopolies (real or de facto through collision) can manipulate the supply curve to maximize profit to a limit set by the costs of a new participant to enter.
Not when there are barriers to entry. When the number of market participants is limited, collusion becomes more effective than innovation. Unregulated monopolies (real or de facto through collision) can manipulate the supply curve to maximize profit to a limit set by the costs of a new participant to enter.
I can agree with that to a point. That said, some like telecom are hard to keep small. I continue to use this based on "Ma Bell" in an earlier reply. AT&T, Bell Atlantic, Bell South, NYNEX, Pacific Telesis, Southern New England Telephone, Southwestern Bell and U S West. Bell Atlantic turned into Verizon. BellSouth is now AT&T South. NYNEX got absorbed into Bell Atlantic in 1997. AT&T owned Pacific Telesis for nine years before folding it into AT&T. Southern New England Telephone was owned by AT&T before being sold to Frontier. Southwester Bell became SBC before being bought by AT&T. U S West was bought by Qwest (now CenturyLink.) Now due to Telecommunications including cell phone, internet and television now, it wont be a monopoly due to all the players. Sprint, T-Mobile, Cablevision (now Altice USA), Cox Communication, Comcast, Dish Network (Sling), Roku, Amazon Fire, etc.
I am not for sure if free markets can stop monopolies because it did not stop Rockefeller from turning Standard Oil into a monopoly.The government had to get involved to break up Standard.
It would be very difficult to monopolize in a free market although it is possible and if someone did it would be a good thing. They would need to provide the best product and/or service at the lowest price. If they started price gouging or lowering the quality of their product/service competition would immediately fill the space. I've always been of the opinion that big government is the best friend of big business; creates far more monopolies than it hinders. Competing in an open free market would be terrible for big business. Look at places with larger governments. Like Canada, Canada is all corporations. It's not like the US with a fairly even spread of small/mid-sized/large companies and the areas in the US that are corporate controlled tend to be "Blue" areas with larger government.
The only way is for government (I know, I know) to step in and enforce anti trust laws. Examples: if you already have a 70% market share, you can't acquire your competitors. If you have less than 40% market share you can't merge into a competitor that has 50%. If you already own a market 75% or more, you instantly become a monopoly and pricing of your products and services are set by an independent body. Believe me, nobody will want to be a monopoly. Bullying practices against small competitors should also be encountered with severe punishments.
It would be very difficult to monopolize in a free market although it is possible and if someone did it would be a good thing. They would need to provide the best product and/or service at the lowest price. If they started price gouging or lowering the quality of their product/service competition would immediately fill the space. I've always been of the opinion that big government is the best friend of big business; creates far more monopolies than it hinders. Competing in an open free market would be terrible for big business. Look at places with larger governments. Like Canada, Canada is all corporations. It's not like the US with a fairly even spread of small/mid-sized/large companies and the areas in the US that are corporate controlled tend to be "Blue" areas with larger government.
Examples of this please?
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People who believe this probably still believe that trickled on economics creates wealth (it does actually, but only for the wealthy)...
