> What is the motivation for a government to want a monopoly of business?
> Government ends up granting monopolies after business... who has the
maximation of profit/ cornering the market motivation ... eventually
gets its way through much lobbying/ dispensing of campaign funds to
government etc...
>
> It's the businesses that have the motivation and are constantly
proposing mergers, not the other way around...
>
> db
Standards and regulation don't necessarily result in monopolies. They
result in the choice of providers whose equipment and products can be
used together, instead of like the old railroads which used to have a
variety of rail sizes/widths, or video tape [VHS vs Beta] or High Def
video [Blue-Ray vs HD DVD]. There a plenty of railroads, many companies
sold millions of VHS tapes, and Blue Ray can be used by anyone who wants
to use it. We're still waiting for the standards to be followed on the
Internet by all parties; the Internet is hit and miss in the US because
there are still millions of people who can't get broadband service at a
level comparable to that in competing countries. Standards which make
things better for the consumer, as well as more efficient to manufacture.
However when a commodity or service becomes so necessary to society, the
consumers' interests must supercede the corporate interests for the
preservation of a civil society. Water is in danger of becoming an
expensive commodity as private companies buy up water supplies in places
like Montana and raise prices to a level that creates high profits, and
scarcity that endagers an entire region. The Constitution refers to
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Where's the chance for life
or happiness without good health?
Bottom line is that there would be no need for regulation if
corporations didn't go out of the way to abuse workers, as well as
customers. Customers sometimes don't have a choice to boycott bad
businesses when it's the HMOs or insurance companies that their
employers choose for them, or if they can't afford to pay the high rates
for health care. Thus, with health insurance, more regulation is
necessary because the insurance companies have behaved badly, especially
in comparison the the single payer systems elsewhere.
Betty
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