Subject: Re: [LPNY DISCUSS] Natural Monopolies: Apple Pies & Telephones Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2003 12:29:54 -0500 To: From: Bob Armstrong AT&T was very much a government created monopoly . And then= broken up in a contrived uneconomic partition which has not survived .= ( See http://cosy.com/views/liberty/Junt9805.htm for bits of= trivia . ) The supreme natural monopoly is the State itself which defines= real property rights in the geographical region it controls and= defends by unlimited force against other similar monopolies controling= other regions . On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 00:55:39 -0500, Gary Popkin wrote: >=A0>From: WTurtleNY@aol.com >=A0>I'm so old, I remember when we had a natural monopoly that no= longer >=A0>exists: >=A0>the phone company. =A0Somehow, in my dotage, I recall charges= being lower >=A0>than what I pay today. =A0Did "forced" competition help the= process or would we >=A0>still have all the innovations we enjoy today ? > >=A0I don't know whether the old Ma Bell was a natural monopoly or= one enforced >=A0by government. =A0Further, I never bother with facts, such as= those that would >=A0tell us about the relative costs of phone service before and= after, and why >=A0those costs have arisen. =A0I prefer to stick to theory; it's= much cleaner. --=A0 =A0Bob Armstrong -- http://CoSy.com -- 212-285-1864 Computing Environment : =A0http://CoSy.com/CoSy/ A WTC vision : http://CoSy.com/CoSy/ConicAllConnect/ Liberty : http://CoSy.com/Liberty.htm Restore our Right to Relax : =A0http://ny.lp.org/cgi-bin/petition.cgi?Against_the_Smoking_Ban =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A02003/11/29 11:59:38 AM