EconBuff Podcast #18 with Anne Barthel
Dr. Anne Barthel talks with me about monopolies. We discuss what the textbook definition of monopolies is and how the field of economics is expanding the understanding of monopoly behavior. Dr. Barthel gives her view on the history of monopolies and how government policy evolved to fight monopolies. We talk about the negatives of monopoly and how the features and behaviors of firms facing other forms of competition impacts consumers. We investigate the nature of modern business with super firms such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and FaceBook and confront the challenges stemming from these tech giants, including privacy issues, prices, consumer options, and innovation. We consider the nuances of regulating monopolies and discuss some historical examples of regulation gone badly. Dr. Barthel lays out the ways monopolies are naturally limited by the market they serve, and how technology and innovation overcome seemingly invincible monopolies. We explore how the high prices monopolies charge and the profits they accumulate combine to sew the seeds of their own demise, how incipient competition threatens individual firm’s monopoly powers, and how Dr. Barthel views anti-trust laws as firms get larger and more powerful.
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