Market situation where one producer (or a group of producers acting in concert) controls supply of a good or service, and where the entry of new producers is prevented or highly restricted. Monopolist firms (in their attempt to maximize profits) keep the price high and restrict the output, and show little or no responsiveness to the needs of their customers. Most governments therefore try to control monopolies by (1) imposing price controls, (2) taking over their ownership (called 'nationalization'), or (3) by breaking them up into two or more competing firms. Sometimes governments facilitate the creation of monopolies for reasons of national security, to realize economies of scale for competing internationally, or where two or more producers would be wasteful or pointless (as in the case of utilities).
Although monopolies exist in varying degrees (due to copyrights, patents, access to materials, exclusive technologies, or unfair trade practices) almost no firm has a complete monopoly in the era of globalization.
Use 'monopoly' in a Sentence
Since there are five corporations that currently control everything in America, and they are constantly buying each other, soon we will end up with a monopoly, where only one corporation will have control over everything that is produced.
The company had achieved such total dominance in its area of the market that it had effectively become a monopoly, making it impossible for competitors to succeed.
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