Monopoly, Competition, and Antitrust | Thomas J. DiLorenzo

Archived from the live Mises.tv broadcast, this lecture by Tom DiLorenzo was presented at the 2011 Mises University in Auburn, Alabama. Includes an introduction by Mark Thornton.

[@CarrotCakeMake]

I really wish he had put more emphasis on the fact that monopoly originally meant a government grant of exclusion. He did mention it but it is so important. What monopoly actually means and how the language criminals have come to use it are totally opposite, both in practice and in ethics.

[@Pau11Wa11]

Well said. I wholeheartedly agree

[@frankcolumbo4481]

Just remember, its not the consumer who bellyaches to the State about "monopoly" but inefficient companies that go crying to the government for protection against big bad ""monopolies."

[@MrDanielfff777]

True

[@Patriotman54]

I an a small flea marker vender. I am told that we can not let you sell at our event because we only allow one person to sell this product. This happened at festivals , fairs and on public or private land ! Is the standard of making sure this " one " verse me making a profit a basis to legally stop me from being a vendor?

[@EsCurve]

there's no competition to saturate a small market compared to production possibilities

[@christopherwhite1648]

When the major manufacturers or producers can exercise their influence on the politicians and bureaucrats to suppress competition or to favor one business in furtherance of that business as they move toward a monopoly - that is wicked and is antithetical to true capitalism. Government does more via its corruptly targeted policies does more to destroy competition than large companies do on their own.

[@rolgorevene]

how criminal can you get. brilliant.

[@howtomanchannel7279]

Maybe he didn't explain it very well... but I'm having a hard time understanding how if you have only 1 firm selling a product there will be competition? Who are they competing with? The government has this monopoly on this and that, they don't compete with themselves, and we all cry that it's foul and wrong. So it sounds like there is some contradiction going on.

[@skaruts]

If you only have one company in a given market, that's most likely because there's government involved, getting in the way of startups through regulations, licencing, bureaucracies, or something along those lines. It's not impossible that there's only one company in a market, but it's extremely unlikely, because when something is profitable a lot of other people will want to profit from it too. It could happen if a company's product is so good and relatively cheap, that no one has any reason to bother offering an alternative. I suspect that's what happens with Linux. Most, if not all, of the OSs that are made, are made over Linux. No one bothers creating a new kernel (besides Microsoft), because it's quite hard to get it right, and Linux has already been perfected over decades. That said, if a company is alone in a market, they still have to compete with imaginary competitors, so to speak. Let's say you have a company and you're the only one, and maybe no one competing because gov makes it expensive to start, or because your product is really too good to compete with. But then you decide to abuse your position and jack up your prices... Well suddenly you made a lot of people unhappy about the prices, and someone will want to do something about that. And now they'll have a competitive edge. Now it compensates to compete, and so someone will come out of the woodwork selling the same product, but cheaper. And they'll steal your customers really easily, because your customers are all unhappy about your prices. So even if you're the only one, you have to keep yourself in check, or else you'll be opening windows of opportunity for competition to show up and potentially run you over.

[@james192599]

@@skaruts your forgetting high start-up costs, geographic advantages, existing size etc.

[@skaruts]

@@james192599 Not sure what you mean.

[@MrDanielfff777]

@@james192599 if you have a good idea, getting investment is not hard these days

[@MrDanielfff777]

If you are the only seller of orange juice, you are still competing with the sellers of apple juice.

[@bmike3000]

@richardcadbury sure they can. perhaps we should rename it Mises Baus Institute

[@EsCurve]

@Leofus1986 Tha BAUS!

[@MrDanielfff777]

Nice

[@EsCurve]

like when mickey d's decided to morph into burgerking

[@RKAddict101]

Haha, funny ending

[@howtomanchannel7279]

His cereal analogy only works if there are other products, which are not similar, which fill the same roll. Cell service has no alternative. Internet connection has no alternative. I'm not saying he's wrong, but technology has created the need for new theory in this area.

[@MrDanielfff777]

Bluetooth connection? Letters? Think about what they beat/replace

[@CarrotCakeMake]

It's funny you mention "cell service" and "internet" (presumably isp connection) in the same sentence as things with no alternative, when people regularly use cell phones to look things up and the internet to make calls. Or that you would cite these obvious government institutions as examples of market problems.

[@Leofus1986]

Tom DiLorenzo: THA BAUS!!!

[@zestotemp]

"Bran"

[@howtomanchannel7279]

lol Software titles all compete? So an MMO app is the same as a spreadsheet app. Yep they compete. C'mon, bro. Try at least.