The only viable definition of monopoly is a grant of privilege from the government. It therefore becomes quite clear that it is impossible for the government to decrease monopoly by passing punitive laws. Th e only way for the government to decrease monopoly, if that is the desideratum, is to remove its own monopoly grants.
The antitrust laws, therefore, do not in the least “diminish monopoly.” What they do accomplish is to impose a continual, capricious harassment of efficient business enterprise.
Murray N. Rothbard
Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market, p. 1117
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
