There's a flaw in deregulating corporations

[Steven Douglas]

One of the most aggravating problems people face in this regard is when they attack a law - a statute, regulation or even constitutional provision - and the courts will uphold the law on the basis that it could apply to corporations and other privileged entities.

Can you give any examples? (No, I'm not attacking you, I genuinely want to see some examples so I can understand the rest of your post).

Don't want to get too deeply into it, or cite specific cases, because there's already a Constitutional forum set up for it, but take most licensing as examples, and start with driving - the use of public roads by a free and natural person in a motorized conveyance of choice - a privilege or a right? Likewise, the requirement to purchase insurance based on court decisions which have declared driving as a privilege, and which have also declared that you are subject to and governed by what is essentially maritime law, under the Commerce clause of the Constitution, which means, and based on your application for a license, that you are acting in a corporate privilege status, and based on that application.

[SilverDollarStandard]

We need to enforce the most important regulation of all the US constitution only gold and silver coin tender in payment of debts. The biggest corporate monopoly right now is the federal reserve. Monopolies rely on government force. The FCC is the media monopoly. Wealth wouldn't be so concentrated in the big banks because they wouldn't have a ponzi scheme to get so rich off of. Competition would prevent monopolies.

[anaconda]

In a TRUE free market economy there is no such thing as a monopoly.

Why not? What about Microsoft?

[Demigod]

Why not? What about Microsoft?

what about it?

They defeated all of their competitors with a better product.

[The Gold Standard]

Yes, but as a larger entity, they're more capable of keeping prices low and service at high quality, especially if they outsource their actual production (and as a large entity they're more capable of doing so). The problem is that the capitalistic model falls apart when smaller entities are unable to compete, because then the company that has the monopoly can do whatever they want and people will still buy from them because there's nowhere else to go.

What is the problem with monopolies? That they can charge higher prices and offer poorer service to the customer without losing market share. If there are no government imposed barriers to entry in a field, the monopoly would have to have the lowest prices and best service to drive out the competition, and as soon as they raise their prices someone else would jump back in and compete with them again, bringing their prices back down again. The only way they could ensure keeping out competition is to continue to have low prices, which means they can't act as a monopoly anyway.

[angelatc]

The problem I see is what happens when a national/international corporation out-competes local businesses .....

Out-competes? So we need the government to step in and protect people who can't honestly compete? And you don't see a flaw in that plan?

[roho76]

If the market would have been unhindered by government for so long then we wouldn't have super mega corporations. These huge multinational mega corporations are a byproduct of corporatism which is the fault of bastardized government regulations that benefit the rich and squash all their competition.

Why can't people understand this very simple concept??? But instead, complain about the system and then support those who make the system what it is and it's blatantly obvious. That was a rhetorical question.

[Black Flag]

Why not? What about Microsoft?

Microsoft is no monopoly.
Ever heard of Linux?
Ever heard of Apple?
Ever heard of IBM?
Ever heard of Lotus? Novell? SAP? Peoplesoft? Oracle?

...and you think they have a monopoly?

[CaptainAmerica]

I, like almost everyone at this board, agree that government-imposed regulation harms the market. Deregulating the banks would prevent recessions, deregulating the medical industry would make health care less expensive, etc. Consumers should rely on personal responsibility rather than government intervention.

The problem I see is what happens when a national/international corporation out-competes local businesses to the point of them having a monopoly over the market, or conspire with other corporations towards price-fixing, etc. When this happens, you can no longer make the argument "Well they should shop somewhere else", or "Well, they should work somewhere else" because that "somewhere else" has been out-competed by a larger corporation.

I can't see a way around this other than the government regulating large corporations. Any help?

Tax codes are in place to harm small businesses and to subsidize big corporations.Government creates the monopoly and prevents competitors from making corporations run for their money on the free market.

[anaconda]

what about it?

They defeated all of their competitors with a better product.

My point exactly. So aren't monopolies possible in a free market?