[yieldcrv]

monopoly isn't a bad word here and doesn't need quotes. In America and major markets, a monopoly is fine if that's what the market chooses, anticompetitve practices and abusing market position is what gets at least put under scrutiny. They may be limited in purchasing additional companies to expand or maintain the market position, but there is no need to shift perception about what is it because that's not regulated or under threat of regulatory scrutiny simply from providing a better service.

[WeylandYutani]

I disagree. A monopoly stifles innovation and consumer adoption. It's not "fine".

[yieldcrv]

okay then it didn't need to be in quotes if its true here as well

that was my only point, they put monopoly in quotes to attempt to defend Nvidia from regulatory scrutiny

they havent done the thing that causes regulatory scrutiny while it still being accurate about what they have achieved

[rcme]

Are there any examples of monopolies that haven’t engaged in anti-competitive practices?

[yieldcrv]

at local levels it’s more obvious

at larger levels there are typically business units within a larger organization that might have a monopoly in that sector

if everyone chooses your phone brand out of social ramifications and you dont do anything to accelerate competitor’s exiting the market, is what it is

[worrycue]

Monopoly are fine if they are natural monopolies - e.g. utilities; which need to be regulated. Otherwise monopolies are suboptimal as prices won’t come down due to lack of competition.

[DeathArrow]

So you are fine paying 10x what's worth because the monopoly?

[butlerm]

No one buys any product that costs more than it is worth to them. If value is lower than cost sales tend to go to zero. The continued market for a product even in the midst of shortage indicates that someone somewhere values the product more than its market price. Otherwise the price would drop until demand converged with supply.

[2OEH8eoCRo0]

I think this is true when there is competition and/or the good/service is not a necessity. If my electric company decided to add a mandatory $100 fee then I'd be forced to pay it. It's also why the emergency room can charge so much- are you going to shop around if you are in the middle of having a heart attack?

[Uehreka]

Yeah, but we (consumers) don’t usually see full exploitation of that principle as a good thing. Like, when pharmaceutical companies charge exorbitant prices for lifesaving drugs just because they can, that’s bad.

[smoldesu]

Martin Shkreli wasn't convicted for manipulating medicine prices, just outrunning his shareholders.

We, the consumers, don't get a damn word about what we want. Unless the free market says it's a bad thing, you're stuck enjoying whatever the corps decide the fight-of-the-week is.

[MichaelZuo]

What are you talking about?

The reason they still do so is because the majority of voters aren’t too bothered by it.

[yieldcrv]

That’s … reductionist, any voter that attempts to find a representative for a non-party line cause gets gaslit by rapid partisans about hating women or a marginalized group because its not their top cause guiding all voting decisions.

voters dont have control of their representatives either way

[MichaelZuo]

No it's not reductionist, it's the truth. Reductionist would be different, for example if it implied that change is impossible, or that voters will always stay the same, or that there is a guaranteed inevitability, etc...

Maybe your reading your own thoughts into someone else?

[yieldcrv]

rabid*

[Affric]

Sure, but often the costs of high prices of inelastic goods are externalised. People excluded from housing, banking, energy, education, and health markets necessarily turn to various anti social activities which create costs for society… and those who are making real profits rarely end up picking up the bill for these.

Though I don’t believe this line of reasoning applies to CUDA/GPUs (yet).

[sokoloff]

Other than government mandates, I don’t pay for things that cost more than they’re worth to me. I just don’t buy them and I think most people have a similar approach.