From Railroads to Microsoft: Monopolies in America

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By definition a Monopoly is exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control that makes possible the manipulation of prices (Monopoly 2012). Individuals are often time fearful of a company or industry becoming a monopoly because it would control too much of a market share, and do whatever wants; this includes raising prices, to using excess capital to branch into even more areas (Rise of monopolies 1996). The market structure of a monopoly is characterized by; a single seller; a unique product; and impossible entry into the market (Tucker 2011). A monopoly can be a difficult thing to accomplish being that a single seller faces an entire industry demand curve due to the fact it makes up the industry as a whole (Tucker 2011). A monopolist has to sell a unique product, and have extremely high barriers to entry in order to protect it from competition and keep its market power as a monopoly (Tucker 2011). Monopolies have affected American Industries as well as foreign and have wreaked havoc on both people and other industries but have also supported industries as well.

The Railroad Industry of the early 19th century is probably the most commonly known case of a monopoly in American industry, it is seen in our grade school and high school history books. The Railroad became a booming success and quickly integrated itself into American enterprise. With the rise of the Railroad, gave rise to other big industries used for the building of the Railroad, industries such as, steel, copper, iron, glass, machine tools, and oil (Rise of monopolies 1996). In order to keep the Railroad running and expanding it was necessary for the new industries to keep thriving as well. Railroad owners became scared of loss of pro...

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...e in business is key, although it may be looked down upon as being a monopoly, these corporations both did what any business owner wants, which is to grow their business and be at the top of there industries. Malicious dealings or not, ethical or not, both companies ingeniously grew their business to be on top and protected their initial investments.

Works Cited

Microsoft antitrust case. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.uri.edu/personal/mdee4037/MainPage.html

monopoly. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved March 23, 2012, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/monopoly

Rise of monopolies. (1996, June 10). Retrieved from http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~eroberts/cs201/projects/corporate-monopolies/development.html

Tucker, I. B. (2011). Economics for today. (7 ed.). Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.

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