ManusJustus on 10 September 2009
| mrstickball said: Manus - On one end, you argue about the abuse of market power should companies exert a monopoly or monosopy. Why is this any different if the government exerts the monopoly? |
The difference is accountability. If a private company has a monopoly, the company can charge whatever price they want and deliver whatever quality of good they want, and the consumer has no choice but to purchase the good. If the government has a monopoly, they need to balance price and quality with consumer expectations (similar to what a private business would do in a competitive market), and if politicians fail to do so then will have to answer to the public. Note that this phenomenon is not unique to democracies, even a dictarotship/monarchy like Saudi Arabia wants to keep the price of government provided goods (oil) down to keep the populous happy.
