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Monopolies undermine the benefits of free markets

Old Blog Import

Guess what — media monopolies are not good for democracy, or capitalism.

Free markets, taken to extremes, sometimes lead to monopolies. Monopolies, in turn, undermine the benefits of free markets — consumer choice, innovation and competition to offer a good product at an attractive price. That’s why even the most capitalistic of societies have laws and regulations against monopolies. If there were one supermarket chain or one hotel group or one airline, the quality would soon deteriorate to the level of service in the late Soviet Union. Consumers would be captive to higher prices, too. Mass media are a very special kind of product, because they involve not just commerce but speech. Congress and the courts have long endeavored to ensure that a wide diversity of voices will be heard.

That is about to change for the worse…

This was written last week, and now it has already happened, but it isn’t too late to fight back.

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