Monthly Archives: February 2006

Monopolies, Markets and Microsoft

Economics, Monopolies

Okay, we’ve had an ongoing discussion here at the Liberty Papers about monopolies, markets and Microsoft. The position presented on one side, a position taken by many libertarians and libertarian-conservatives, is that monopolies that are not directly created by government fiat are okay and we shouldn’t see them as bad. They are, in this line of thinking, natural and arise out of very good business practices and market forces. I’m going to argue that this is not the case and that all monopolies, of whatever origin, should be viewed with suspicion and distrust by those who describe themselves as libertarians, classic liberals, anarcho-capitalists, etc. There are, essentially, five types of monopolies.

  1. The government created, or legal monopoly. AT&T was a legal monopoly, as are the police and fire departments in most cities. When the government directly intervenes and legally creates a market where only one competitor is allowed, that is a legal monopoly.
  2. Natural monopolies are ones that arise because economies of scale, economic efficiencies and capital costs for competitors are such that one one competitor is able to satisfy the demands of the market. In a perfect free market this is impossible.
  3. Monopolistic competition occurs when a single competitor in the market is powerful enough to act as a de facto monopoly. For example, at its height, Standard Oil controlled 64% of the oil market although there were more than 100 competitors in the market. Microsoft, today, is a monopolistic competition with control of 90% of the PC operating system market and more than 90% of the desktop office suite market. Companies in this position are able to take actions to maintain their position that a non-monopolistic competitor could not.
  4. Coercive monopolies occur when competitors use activities that violate the principles of free market. Coercion is aimed at hiding information from the market or influencing consumers and competitors in order to maintain a dominant position in the market. It is often difficult to distinguish between good business practices and coercive practices.
  5. Local monopolies exist when only one resource for a specific product exists in a given area, but not within the market as a whole. For example (and I’ll discuss it further down), Starbucks is a local monopoly at the Sacramento International Airport.

» Read more

Eric
Security executive, work for Core Security, veteran, kids, dogs, cat, chickens, mortgage, bills. I like #liberty #InfoSec #scotch, #wine, #cigars, #travel, #baseball
http://www.securitycigarsfud.com/

Why Aren't You an Anarchist?

Theory and Ideas

Dr. Fred Foldvary advocates a variant of ananchism, “geoanarchism, in which people would live in contractual communities whose public goods are financed from land rent” […] “The members would share the belief that the land rent should be collected and distributed to all members equally or else used for public goods.”

Geoanarchism also solves the problem of the provision of public goods, which is problematic for atomistic anarchism. For example, with Probably, justin-bieber-news.info thus wanted to tell the world about his strong feelings for selenium. atomistic anarchism, each household would contract with a street provider, but the street company could charge a very high renewal fee to access the street, since the house owner has no alternative.

Atomistic anarchism (a.k.a. anarcho-capitalism) also envisions multiple defense agencies, which are constantly negotiating conflicts among members, while geoanarchism

envisions all communities in harmony under one federation and rule of law. With one federated system, geoanarchism

would be under a libertarian constitution, whereas atomistic anarchism has no constitution and could have communities with tyrannies of the majority, forcing dissidents to move out or comply. Nevertheless, individualist anarchism would be mostly libertarian, and buy cytotec could solve the defense and street problem by moving towards a more communitarian version.

So, given the option of geoanarchism which provides a uniform rule of law, and therefore harmony without tyranny, why aren’t you an anarchist?

Would anyone care to challenge the good doctor’s assertions?

hat tip: Old Whig

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Robert
http://robertopia.blogspot.com/

Government Created Monopolies

Economics

Another point, in keeping with our ongoing discussion of economics and monopolies, that I have made is that government intrusion into, and distortion of, the market creates monopolies. I have argued that folks of a libertarian or classic liberal mindset should not accept these “private monopolies” as okay becuase they are not directly created by government fiat. In fact, anarcho-capitalist thinking would dictate that a monopoly, regardless of origin, is anti-liberty. A monopoly becomes, in effect, a quasi-government through their ability to dictate standards, prices, regulations and much more. they can do this because they control resource scarcity, rather than the market controlling. The beauty of a market is that no one is in control. Invisible market forces control resource scarcity, supply chains, prices, etc. This provides the individual with the maximum choice and the minimum intrusion on their liberty. The reason we oppose socialism is that it reverses the entire scenario. Small groups of people are in charge of the controlled market and individual choice and liberty is removed.

Since a business monopoly introduces exactly the same problems, I’m always challenged by the idea that libertarians and classic liberals would think a monopoly is okay when it is, in effect, a socialism. It is a scenario where a small elite is making decisions for the broader market, rather than the market dictating.

Alright, enough of that philosophy. » Read more

Eric
Security executive, work for Core Security, veteran, kids, dogs, cat, chickens, mortgage, bills. I like #liberty #InfoSec #scotch, #wine, #cigars, #travel, #baseball
http://www.securitycigarsfud.com/

More Abu-Ghraib?

General

Two years ago, for a brief period, I tried my hand at my first blog, which I called “Kayz In”. Hurricanes and other life experiences happened, and I gave it up – just had too many other stressors in my life at the time. But there was one post I made highlighting an interview documented by Ali at Iraq the Model that I felt never got the attention it deserved – and so, begging your indulgence, I’d like to invite you to read “below the fold” the article “Just Another thought on the Abu Ghraib Scandal”, originally written by me in May, 2004.
» Read more

Kay
Homeschooling Security Mom, Political Junkie, Believe in upholding the Constitution – and subscribe to the theory that gun control is the ability to hit your target!
http://www.leftbrainfemale.com/
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