Brown, R Ken wrote:

Jim can look after himself, but the aircraft industry is certainly monopolistic. There are only 2 serious players in the market for large long-haul airliners, Airbus..and Boeing

First of all the majority of the market to which they are selling is anything but free. Each government has a monopoly on their military, and many have a monopoly on their commercial airlines as well. Government aren't bound by the same survival rules as consumers, they are able to irrationally spend as the can simply extort more money. Despite this very strong market distortion, competition for defense contracts had been rather competitive in the US, with the recent consolidation due to shrinking demand (note they cannot seek other markets freely to compensate). And despite the strong market distortions, Boeing makes a very slim profit margin on commercial aircraft (~3%) competing with Airbus. The private aircraft industry has had a terrible time not for lack of demand, but because of rampant irrational and overzealous liability claims. This has created a very limited number of vendors and highly inflated prices. Again, none these are natural effects of the free market.

The real problem with monopoly or cartel is not high prices - many monopolies choose to charge low prices - it is lack of freedom.

So you would force people to pay higher prices so can have more choices? You would force people to support inefficient competitors?

A monopolisitic supplier of some good has a measure of political power.

Political power gums at the mean end of a gun, what political power do monopolies have and how? Matt