Could there be a "collective monopoly"?

[SSSnail]

I don't know where this belongs, but here goes. (MODs, this is not flame baiting and is not aimed at any industry).

I know we have law against monopoly, regardless of what the goods are. Supposedly companies within an industry form an alliance and unanimously raise the price of the goods or services that industry provide, wouldn't that constitute a monopoly?

I know we encourage free enterprise, but at which point do you think there should be some measures control against this sort of "collective monopoly" or co-oppoly, however you want to call it.

 

[nonameo]

It's called collusion.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: nonameo
It's called collusion.

da ....DA....DAUAAAAAAA

 

[spidey07]

Price fixing is illegal.

 

[DaWhim]

if you know a bit of game theory, you will know that collusion will break apart. one party can always profit more than others. the collusion works because a few big firms reduce output. one firm can cheat and produce more. a good example is OPEC. the market will always fix itself.

 

[Epic Fail]

Monopoly is created by government intervention.

 

[BrownTown]

Originally posted by: nonameo
It's called collusion.

/thread

 

[darkswordsman17]

Well, that technically would be illegal as that is price fixing. That's not to say it doesn't happen (and in some cases legally).

There are many markets that would probably be considered oligopolys where several companies have market power, where none of them really compete on price against the others as they're all doing well and have no need to drop prices. They aren't working together per se, they're just not really working against each other.

Then there's protected markets and things of that nature. Do some research on the international shipping industry (large container ships for instance). The government actually allows them to meet and set prices collectively.

 

[Ballsack]

Originally posted by: SSSnail
I don't know where this belongs, but here goes. (MODs, this is not flame baiting and is not aimed at any industry).

I know we have law against monopoly, regardless of what the goods are. Supposedly companies within an industry form an alliance and unanimously raise the price of the goods or services that industry provide, wouldn't that constitute a monopoly?

I know we encourage free enterprise, but at which point do you think there should be some measures control against this sort of "collective monopoly" or co-oppoly, however you want to call it.

A good example would be the memory/RAM companies:

Samsung, Hynix and Infineon settle DRAM price-fixing case

BALLSACK

 

[sdifox]

I think that can be called a Combine.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: SSSnail
I don't know where this belongs, but here goes. (MODs, this is not flame baiting and is not aimed at any industry).

I know we have law against monopoly, regardless of what the goods are. Supposedly companies within an industry form an alliance and unanimously raise the price of the goods or services that industry provide, wouldn't that constitute a monopoly?

I know we encourage free enterprise, but at which point do you think there should be some measures control against this sort of "collective monopoly" or co-oppoly, however you want to call it.

Your description is collusion (as everyone else has pointed out) but I'm wondering if you're hinting at an oligopoly?

 

[SSSnail]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy

Originally posted by: SSSnail
I don't know where this belongs, but here goes. (MODs, this is not flame baiting and is not aimed at any industry).

I know we have law against monopoly, regardless of what the goods are. Supposedly companies within an industry form an alliance and unanimously raise the price of the goods or services that industry provide, wouldn't that constitute a monopoly?

I know we encourage free enterprise, but at which point do you think there should be some measures control against this sort of "collective monopoly" or co-oppoly, however you want to call it.

Your description is collusion (as everyone else has pointed out) but I'm wondering if you're hinting at an oligopoly?

THANK YOU!

So, can anything be done about oligopoly? As someone has mentioned, they may not be working together, because that would be collusion; but they're not necessarily working against each others either and just conveniently creating a monopoly like environment. Aren't there any control measures?

 

[FleshLight]

Cartel.

 

[iversonyin]

Originally posted by: SSSnail

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy

Originally posted by: SSSnail
I don't know where this belongs, but here goes. (MODs, this is not flame baiting and is not aimed at any industry).

I know we have law against monopoly, regardless of what the goods are. Supposedly companies within an industry form an alliance and unanimously raise the price of the goods or services that industry provide, wouldn't that constitute a monopoly?

I know we encourage free enterprise, but at which point do you think there should be some measures control against this sort of "collective monopoly" or co-oppoly, however you want to call it.

Your description is collusion (as everyone else has pointed out) but I'm wondering if you're hinting at an oligopoly?

THANK YOU!

So, can anything be done about oligopoly? As someone has mentioned, they may not be working together, because that would be collusion; but they're not necessarily working against each others either and just conveniently creating a monopoly like environment. Aren't there any control measures?

The only control measure is the supply and demand from the market. If they price the product/service too high, no one will buy.

 

[patentman]

The U.S. laws already guard against cartelization throguh a variety of means, not the least of which is that U.S. antitrust laws impose strict liability on companies that collude to fix minimum prices.

 

[patentman]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Price fixing is illegal.

correction... Minimum resale price maintenance is illegal. Fixing a maximum price for goods in the market place is 100% legal in most instances.

 

[patentman]

Originally posted by: SSSnail
I know we have law against monopoly, regardless of what the goods are. Supposedly companies within an industry form an alliance and unanimously raise the price of the goods or services that industry provide, wouldn't that constitute a monopoly?

In the U.S., what you are describing may or may not be considered a monopoly. To have a monopoly, the party accused must have market power in the relevant market. Market power does not necessarily correlate to market share, but they are often related.

The example you provided is the quintessential minimum resale price maintenance scheme, and is per se illegal under U.S. antitrust laws.

 

[patentman]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Your description is collusion (as everyone else has pointed out) but I'm wondering if you're hinting at an oligopoly?

Collusions in and of itself is not illegal. Collusion to fix prices is, but only minimum prices.

 

[patentman]

Originally posted by: iversonyin

Originally posted by: SSSnail

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy

Originally posted by: SSSnail
I don't know where this belongs, but here goes. (MODs, this is not flame baiting and is not aimed at any industry).

I know we have law against monopoly, regardless of what the goods are. Supposedly companies within an industry form an alliance and unanimously raise the price of the goods or services that industry provide, wouldn't that constitute a monopoly?

I know we encourage free enterprise, but at which point do you think there should be some measures control against this sort of "collective monopoly" or co-oppoly, however you want to call it.

Your description is collusion (as everyone else has pointed out) but I'm wondering if you're hinting at an oligopoly?

THANK YOU!

So, can anything be done about oligopoly? As someone has mentioned, they may not be working together, because that would be collusion; but they're not necessarily working against each others either and just conveniently creating a monopoly like environment. Aren't there any control measures?

The only control measure is the supply and demand from the market. If they price the product/service too high, no one will buy.

No. U.S. antitrust laws provide strong corrective action against catrtelization and oligopoly... provided the conduct occurred in or affects the states. Of course, conduct occurring overseas may not be actionable, even if it affects the U.S., due to sovereign immunity ("foreign countries are not subject to U.S. laws)

 

[SSSnail]

Originally posted by: iversonyin
The only control measure is the supply and demand from the market. If they price the product/service too high, no one will buy.

What if it's a necessity?

 

[kinev]

Originally posted by: yamadakun
Monopoly is created by government intervention.

I thought it was Parker Brothers.......



badum....ding!

 

[BrownTown]

I'm not really sure that an oligopoly is what you are really talking about here. That means there are only a few firms, but they are fighting against each other, not in league. The classic example is Coke and Pepsi in the soft drink business although since this is a tech forum we might say Intel and AMD in the CPU business or nVdia and ATI in the discrete GPU buisness.

 

[jackace]

Collusion, price fixing, cartel, etc. these have and do happen in our world today. The U.S. has strict laws against such practices, but that doesn't stop firms from doing it in other countries and selling their goods here. Examples are OPEC and the Ram price fixing fiasco Micron, Samsung, and others were involved in a few years back.

 

[iversonyin]

Originally posted by: patentman

Originally posted by: iversonyin

Originally posted by: SSSnail

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy

Originally posted by: SSSnail
I don't know where this belongs, but here goes. (MODs, this is not flame baiting and is not aimed at any industry).

I know we have law against monopoly, regardless of what the goods are. Supposedly companies within an industry form an alliance and unanimously raise the price of the goods or services that industry provide, wouldn't that constitute a monopoly?

I know we encourage free enterprise, but at which point do you think there should be some measures control against this sort of "collective monopoly" or co-oppoly, however you want to call it.

Your description is collusion (as everyone else has pointed out) but I'm wondering if you're hinting at an oligopoly?

THANK YOU!

So, can anything be done about oligopoly? As someone has mentioned, they may not be working together, because that would be collusion; but they're not necessarily working against each others either and just conveniently creating a monopoly like environment. Aren't there any control measures?

The only control measure is the supply and demand from the market. If they price the product/service too high, no one will buy.

No. U.S. antitrust laws provide strong corrective action against catrtelization and oligopoly... provided the conduct occurred in or affects the states. Of course, conduct occurring overseas may not be actionable, even if it affects the U.S., due to sovereign immunity ("foreign countries are not subject to U.S. laws)

LAUGH OUT LOUD.

How many companies can you get your phone services from? Cable services? Operating system for your computer?

 

[iversonyin]

Originally posted by: SSSnail

Originally posted by: iversonyin
The only control measure is the supply and demand from the market. If they price the product/service too high, no one will buy.

What if it's a necessity?

Then it should be regulated by the government.