Did monopolies put an end to free market economies?

[cageybee]

am i right?

[cageybee]

bump

[rp08orbust]

And government promoted monopolies.

[10thAmendmentMan]

I think you'll be hard-pressed to think of a harmful monopoly that gained power without some clever use of government. If anyone can think of any, I'd be interested in hearing about them and doing some research into them.

Also, this might be interesting to some who haven't heard of Hotelling's law. It basically demonstrates that not all monopolies are harmful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotelling%27s_law

[acptulsa]

Boeing absorbed McDonnell Douglas even though other aircraft builders could have saved them instead. Now look at the Boeing/Airbus tanker mess we're in. And that isn't the only example, just the most newsworthy at the moment.

Where's Teddy Roosevelt's Trust Busters when you need 'em?