Sunday, March 8, 2009

Monopoly (not the game) good or bad?

Are monopolies good or bad? Well, they can be both. Monopolies can be bad because they can set the prices to however high they want. If a monopoly owns something that is a necessity to everyone (for example water), then everyone has to pay the price the company sets, no matter how high. If the price is set too high then there may be some people that cannot afford things, even if those things may be basic human needs. If the water company is a monopoly and they set their prices high, then low income households may not be able to afford their water bill. This would be taking away their basic necessities.
However, monopolies can be good. By having a monopoly, consumers know that they are getting a good service. If there is only one cell phone provider, consumers know that they will have good service and good reception no matter where they are in the country. A monopoly can ensure that the product (or whatever it is the company does or sells) is going to be well made and hopefully will not need to be replaced as often as if someone bought a cheaper item compared to a more expensive one. Monopolies will also eliminate imitation items. This would help people save money because they won’t have to buy the same thing multiple times because the first couples were bad.

1 comment:

  1. I agree that monopolies are bad but I can't see the connection that you tried to make with them being good that their goods or services are going to be better. They will only be good enough to turn a profit. If there were only one cell phone provider, when one entered a market they would lower their prices to make the new provider not able to compete, just as what Rockefeller and Carnegie did when they were creating their own empires. it wasnt that there goods were so much better than everyone elses it was that they could take a loss long enough to put the others out of buisness

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.