Is it illegal to own a monopoly?

[凸(◣_◢)凸 ADD ME]

i don't mean the game.

ok so in social studies class we were studying the oil and steel barons of the late 1800's and my teacher mentioned the Sherman Antitrust Act, which basically says u can't monopolize a product, meaning being the only person selling it, and he said that it is also active today.

but i googled it and i found a few monopolies. so is it illegal or not?

[BILL]

You don't go to jail for it, but the monopoly gets broken up and you may have to pay penalties. See the Sherman Antitrust Act.

[Kevin]

In America it's illegal to have a monopoly, but anywhere around the world it seems fine. There's a monopoly on diamonds in Africa, diamonds are actually quite plentiful but because of the monopoly they're quite expensive.

[Gladys]

The government owns a lot of monopolyes.

[J.B.]

Some monopolies are natural. For example the company that provides electricity to your home probably monopolizes electricity production in your area - simply because it doesn't make sense to have two separate electric utility companies running their lines all over town. Thus, these types of monopolies are allowed to exist, but are subject to federal regulations so that the consumer is not harmed.

Monopolies in other industries - companies that take up too much of the market share of an industry are likely to be broken up in anti trust suits if found to be harmful to consumer interest.

The government wants to prevent monopolies to encourage competition between companies which in the end aims to increase product quality and decrease prices for consumers.

[Discovery]

I understand that laws had been passed to outlaw monopolies, but we are surrounded by them, so I imagine there are so many loopholes in them that the laws are ineffective.

[Greg N]

It is illegal to operate a monopoly in general terms, but there's a few things to remember.

1. The police won't stop by and start arresting you or employees. "Illegal" simply means it's not legal, or a violation of law. But laws are enforced in a variety of ways with varying penalties.

2. What constitutes a monopoly depends on the industry the supposed monopoly operates in, in addition to how a monopoly's business share is calculated. (In other words, does the business control 40% of the industry, or 70%? What does "control" mean in terms of business?) The government usually must launch an investigation and a court will determine if a monopoly exists. If the court finds a monopoly does exist, then it can order the business to sell off parts of itself. If the business refuses to cooperate, a judge can have them arrested or other criminal laws may then come into play.

3. Some monopolies are good. People like them. If a monopoly is perceived as being good for the general public, then the government tends to leave them alone. Deciding when to investigate a monopoly and when to break up a monopoly can be a political decision just as easily as it is an economic one.

[Farzan Saeed]

itS illegal but sometimes legal if gov. allows u

[Colanth]

There's a difference between being the only one to sell a product, monopolizing a product and being a monopoly.

[rickinnocal]

No. Monopolies are perfectly legal, even under Sherman. What is illegal is using a monopoly or trust (A 'trust', in Sherman is what we would today typically call a cartel) to manipulate price and availability of a product or service.

The governments decision to break up AT&T, for example, was based not on the fact that it was a monopoly, but on the allegation that AT&T was using its monopoly position to artificially hike prices and keep prospective competitors out of the market.

Many US monopolies are "regulated monopolies". This means that the government uses the law to protect the monopoly from competition, and in return is allowed to control the monopolies pricing. In most places, for example, the garbage company is a regulated monopoly. The city does not allow homeowners to contract with anyone other than one specific company for garbage removal, and in exchange for that protection, the company needs city approval for rate hikes.

Richard