So the coal, oil and steel trusts of the 18. century was what? Granted by government? A historic accident?
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I'm more familiar with industrial history in the XIXth century, where monopolies can be traced directly to government intervention, protectionism, lobbyism, regulatory capture, and even "antitrust".
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As for the XVIIIth, I'd like to see the data. But I'm generally unimpressed by people blaming the free market for the mercantilism of late ancien régime monarchies, or for their general basis of a master race owning and ruling the land by right of conquest.
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While competition may be good for the consumer, will not businesses go out of their way to limit competition, the best they can? Certainly, there has numerous cases of illegal collusion to limit competition in Denmark.
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The way they go to limit competition is to lobby the government for regulations that will exclude their competitors. And the government is happy to oblige, under a great number of wholesome pretenses.
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That is not the only way. Another is for a number of businesses to agree to not compete (it is known in DK as forming a cartel). It is illegal but they keep doing it anyway.
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The only way a cartel can maintain itself is of government prevents competition with heavy regulations, typically promulgated "in the name of competition".
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And this we know how?
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How outrageously large a monopoly rent can your cartel extract? That's about how much profit a new entrant or cartel defector could make by undercutting the cartel. Why isn't that every venture capitalist's wet dream? Barrier to entry by criminals, whether "private" or "public".
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Except that barrier to entry is never zero and it will be very much in the interest of the cartel to keep new enteants out (or defectors in) even if it will be at the short sacrifice of some profit.
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The only way to prevent defection or new entrants is to not have outrageous large monopoly rent. Or to have government issue regulations (in the name of "fair" competition, of course). Or to be racketeering gangsters without the "government" hypocrisy and brainwashed supporters.
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