Learn Liberty Video: Should Government Regulate Monopolies?

Lynne Kiesling

I am happy to say that Learn Liberty has published another video that we did together. This one is a short one in which I talk about government regulation of monopolies, essentially laying out Schumpeter’s argument that when entry costs are low, monopolies do not persist because monopoly profit serves as a lure to entice entrepreneurs and innovators to create new value propositions (“new combinations”, in Schumpeter’s words) that break down market barriers and definitions.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fujeSSEqj74&feature=relmfu]

Those of you with an electricity/natural monopoly background will notice that I assiduously stay away from economies of scale and subadditivity of costs as a cause of monopoly formation. Couldn’t keep the video at 3+ minutes if we opened that Pandora’s box!

The Learn Liberty page for the video also has a description and some discussion of the issues.