[kylevedder]

>without government intervention you end up usually with a monopoly or oligopoly.

I would love to hear your explanation of how government intervention is the only thing preventing a monopoly or oligopoly of plumbers, electricians, pet groomers, or halal carts.

[baq]

no explanation needed, just look at medieval history where guilds had de facto monopolies on certain services or manufacturing and if you wanted to be independent... tough luck.

[JumpCrisscross]

> where guilds had de facto monopolies on certain services or manufacturing and if you wanted to be independent... tough luck

This conflates too many historical threads to support the hypothesis. The guild era was one where most countries required official consent to start a business of any kind. That's how the guilds enforced their monopoly.