Monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity. In many jurisdictions, competition laws restrict monopolies. Holding a dominant position or a monopoly of a market is often not illegal in itself, however certain categories of behavior can be considered abusive and therefore incurs legal sanctions when business is dominant.
Due to the lack of competitive pressure and force to development with the lack of effective oversight external constraints, the monopoly industries often can’t make the customers satisfied and violate market rules or consumer rights. Meanwhile, monopoly enterprises obtain excessive profits through monopoly, thus they may stay in their comfortable region instead of expanding their business or improving their whole industry. The price fixing and decisions in the monopoly industries are generally made the entire society to pay the cost. Generally these industries are closely related to public utilities, such as telecommunications, postal services, water, electricity, gas, rail, air and so on. Because these industries penetrated into all aspects of society, so the price of services in these industries will be related to the level of the cost of the whole society. The overall efficiency of these industries directly related to the ability of other industries to participate in international competition.
Microsoft, Intel, Apple, Heineken, Volvo, Barclays Bank and many other world-renowned companies have been investigated and fined by the European Union. By the way, the world’s top ten anti-monopoly price tickets are out of the EU. For example, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Barclays Bank and other three banks are alleged manipulation of interest rates with ticketing a € 1.71 billion in fines by the European Commission, the highest record of such antitrust fines.
Citation:
“Monopoly.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Sept. 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.
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