Monopolies wouldn't exist in the free market?

[pvn]

[ QUOTE ]
We're comparing the viability of these systems, and specifically the extraordinary claim that business monopoly would be non existent under AC. I'm definitely willing to entertain the notion that monopoly is worse under government, all things considered. I may even set the line more in your favor than mine. But I'll call you a poor thinker if you claim damaging monopoly won't exist at all under AC.

[/ QUOTE ]

Please explain what you mean when you use the word monopoly.

[Moseley]

What do you call it when 5 corporations have control of 80% of the media outlets in the U.S.?

[wtfsvi]

[ QUOTE ]
Am I missing something? They found an edge where they were more efficient, and pushed that edge to outcompete the other players, resulting in lower prices for consumers from *all* vendors. They couldn't compete with the new lower prices, and got eliminated from the market.

What's "predatory" about this?

What's harming consumers?

[/ QUOTE ] Yes, you are missing something. You are missing the assumption that once the comptetition was crushed, they upped their prices again.

[TomCollins]

[ QUOTE ]
What do you call it when 5 corporations have control of 80% of the media outlets in the U.S.?

[/ QUOTE ]

Competition?

[natedogg]

[ QUOTE ]
Any buisness man worth his salt wouldn't run his monopoly that way though. He wouldn't buy out the competition outright. He'd simply run his buisness differently in order to drive him out of buisness. What's the difference in paying somebody 100K to get out of the buisness and losing 100K to drive the other guy out of buisness? It discourages the next guy to jump in and try to take some of your buisness when you return your prices to normal.

[/ QUOTE ]

You can't win through predatory pricing because short-sellers would destroy your company. Do you see why?


natedogg

[tomdemaine]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Am I missing something? They found an edge where they were more efficient, and pushed that edge to outcompete the other players, resulting in lower prices for consumers from *all* vendors. They couldn't compete with the new lower prices, and got eliminated from the market.

What's "predatory" about this?

What's harming consumers?

[/ QUOTE ] Yes, you are missing something. You are missing the assumption that once the comptetition was crushed, they upped their prices again.

[/ QUOTE ]

This isn't sustainable in the long run but even assuming that it were is it your opinion that these stores owe these people "cheap" goods? Who decides what constitutes cheap? What should happen if the stores don't provide the goods at the decided on price?

[mosdef]

[ QUOTE ]
Incorrect. For example, airline prices in Cincinnati. Delta has a near monopoly on the city. Delta has extremely high prices (the airport was the 2nd most expensive in the country last year, behind Honolulu and ahead of Anchorage). If anyone comes in (which airlines have tried to do in the past), Delta drops prices temporarily until they leave.

[/ QUOTE ]

Tom, I gather from your comments that you think the price of airfare in Cincinnati is "too high" due to Delta's practice. What is it that leads you to conclude that the price is not the "correct" market price?

[TomCollins]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Incorrect. For example, airline prices in Cincinnati. Delta has a near monopoly on the city. Delta has extremely high prices (the airport was the 2nd most expensive in the country last year, behind Honolulu and ahead of Anchorage). If anyone comes in (which airlines have tried to do in the past), Delta drops prices temporarily until they leave.

[/ QUOTE ]

Tom, I gather from your comments that you think the price of airfare in Cincinnati is "too high" due to Delta's practice. What is it that leads you to conclude that the price is not the "correct" market price?

[/ QUOTE ]

Because it is the 2nd highest priced airport in the country. Honolulu is higher (understandably), but it is even ahead of Anchorage. I'll have to find the study. A flight that would be $200 out of Dayton (50 miles away) would be $600 out of Cincinnati. One could argue that the fact that it is a hub makes it more likely to get a non-stop flight, but its prices are considerably higher than even other hubs such as Salt Lake, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, etc...

When I lived in Cincinnati, I would routinely drive to Columbus/Dayton/Lexington/Indianapolis to catch a flight that goes right back through Cincinnati.

[BCPVP]

[ QUOTE ]
What is this if not predatory pricing? I can only see significant consumer harm by these actions.

[/ QUOTE ]
Uh, what about the significant benefit the consumers received from the businesses providing cheaper goods for them? Your own example indicates that the customers were getting charged more by the existing firms than they could be by the newcomer who found some way to be more efficient. And predictably, the established firms did not like their margins getting squeezed by some upstart and probably complained of the "unfair" practices. This phenomenon is described well in Boudreaux and DiLorenzo's Protectionist Roots of Antitrust link. Your link is chock full of examples of poor competitors complaining and looking for the government to hobble the better competitors.

How exactly do you determine whether the pricing is predatory or not, anyway? What distinguishes predatory pricing from normal price cutting that all businesses do to gain more customers? Do you see price cutting that puts someone out of business as inherently a bad thing?

[mosdef]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Incorrect. For example, airline prices in Cincinnati. Delta has a near monopoly on the city. Delta has extremely high prices (the airport was the 2nd most expensive in the country last year, behind Honolulu and ahead of Anchorage). If anyone comes in (which airlines have tried to do in the past), Delta drops prices temporarily until they leave.

[/ QUOTE ]

Tom, I gather from your comments that you think the price of airfare in Cincinnati is "too high" due to Delta's practice. What is it that leads you to conclude that the price is not the "correct" market price?

[/ QUOTE ]

Because it is the 2nd highest priced airport in the country. Honolulu is higher (understandably), but it is even ahead of Anchorage. I'll have to find the study. A flight that would be $200 out of Dayton (50 miles away) would be $600 out of Cincinnati. One could argue that the fact that it is a hub makes it more likely to get a non-stop flight, but its prices are considerably higher than even other hubs such as Salt Lake, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, etc...

[/ QUOTE ]

Why doesn't Delta run its scheme out of the other "hubs" to corner those markets? I'm really not familiar with the particulars of any of those airports.