Perfect Competition And Monopoly Power

3 Pages 713 Words

Microsoft is evil, according to the antitrust lawsuits filed against them from 20 states. Its crime, it integrated its Internet browser into its Windows 98 operating system and is offering it as a take-it-or-leave-it condition of sale. That is "coercion," according to the justice department. If placing an all-or-none condition of sale on one's own property constitutes coercion, then we are all criminals. The justice department's logic would outlaw software integration as such, thus forcing consumers to purchase add-ons separately a blatant waste of time and money. Furthermore, it hands government dictatorial control over software design.
To accomplish this they are deploying that phony economic doctrine of Perfect Competition, which allegedly exists in an economic sector when many small firms exist with equal market share. (Colander, David, Microeconomics, p. 262) If one firm acquires "too much" market share, thus approaching a "monopoly," the government must bulldoze the playing field to remove the "imperfections," all in the name of consumer protection and free enterprise.
A true free market is driven by the voluntary non-coercive decisions of buyers and sellers, and under certain conditions many small firms might prevail. But not always, for example, people might prefer shopping at a superstore because it can offer lower prices and one-stop shopping. Likewise, they might prefer purchasing the most widely used operating system to avoid compatibility problems.
Under true free enterprise the government's role is not to force companies into somebody's rigid utopia. The government's role is to protect individual rights, including property rights, while otherwise leaving people free to produce, compete and trade on a voluntary basis. The essence of a free market is not "perfect" competition, but freedom of competition freedom to produce and trade without coercion. True competition also includes marketing strategies, such as con...