[mathgradthrow]

private enterprise is not "bound by competitive pressure". Companies only compete by virtue of the government forcing them to. Are you arguing that humans, inventors of civilization, are too stupid to figure out how to cooperate?

[Nextgrid]

I disagree that companies only compete thanks to regulation. Companies competing is the default - regulation sometimes (either as an unintended oversight or malicious intent thanks to lobbying/corruption) prevents it though.

There are many valid scenarios where competition is lacking, but generally speaking the reason it’s lacking is due to regulation/law making it impossible.

Telecoms for example is impossible because the incumbents have exclusive control of the physical infrastructure (poles/ducts under the street) or spectrum auctions where the price makes it impossible for a new entrant to enter.

Tech network effects are maintained by copyright law being abused to prevent adversarial interoperability.

[graemep]

> Companies competing is the default

If you had no regulation, they would simply form cartels or merge to create a monopoly.

[Nextgrid]

Merging and forming cartels is still technically a choice. A company could decide not to do that and compete. It may require a near-infinite amount of money, but it's still technically possible.

[A1kmm]

In the absence of any regulation, if a company's objective is to maximise profits, and it acts as a rational actor solely focused on achieving that objective, joining cartels, and creating barriers for entry is the end state of the market for nearly all starting conditions.