Current Monopolies Using the ITT Tech Virtual Library, research information on c

Question

Current Monopolies
Using the ITT Tech Virtual Library, research information on companies that have engaged in monopoly behavior, such as Microsoft, Google, or Wal-Mart, and explain how society has been affected by the monopoly behavior using that information. In your analysis include the following points, providing specific examples where appropriate:
Discuss the current monopoly to provide a brief overview of the company.
How did the monopoly arise? Did the monopoly increase barriers to entry?
Does the company behave like a monopoly or more like a competitive firm?
Has the monopoly been cited for monopoly behavior? If so, discuss the behavior and the final outcome of the case.
(Hint: Both Microsoft and Wal-Mart have been found guilty of monopoly behavior.)
Submission Requirements:
Attach a Word document of 150 to 250 words that contains all answers.

Explanation / Answer

One of the most important answers to that question is that we need government to compensate for "market failures." The United States economy is based on the presumption of a free market. This means that individuals and groups are free to do the work they choose to do, provide goods and services of their choosing and to spend money on the things they want. The government, for the most part, does not limit the range of goods and services available or set the prices that are charged for them. The amount of money an individual or business can charge for a product is set by the supply and level of demand for that product. Popular products that are scarce will have higher prices than unpopular and readily available products. In theories of competition in economics, barriers to entry, also known as barrier to entry, are obstacles that make it difficult to enter a given market.[1] The term can refer to hindrances a firm faces in trying to enter a market or industry - such as government regulation, or a large, established firm taking advantage of economies of scale - or those an individual faces in trying to gain entrance to a profession - such as education or licensing requirements. Because barriers to entry protect incumbent firms and restrict competition in a market, they can contribute to distortionary prices. The existence of monopolies or market power is often aided by barriers to entry. Monopolistic competition is a type of imperfect competition such that one or two producers sell products that are differentiated from one another as goods but not perfect substitutes (such as from branding, quality, or location). In monopolistic competition, a firm takes the prices charged by its rivals as given and ignores the impact of its own prices on the prices of other firms.[1] In a monopolistically competitive market, firms can behave like monopolies in the short run, including by using market power to generate profit. In the long run, however, other firms enter the market and the benefits of differentiation decrease with competition; the market becomes more like a perfectly competitive one where firms cannot gain economic profit. In practice, however, if consumer rationality/innovativeness is low and heuristics are preferred, monopolistic competition can fall into natural monopoly, even in the complete absence of government intervention.[2] In the presence of coercive government, monopolistic competition will fall into government-granted monopoly

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