Chapter 33. Monopoly Profits

1. How is the blacksmith free to compete with the physician and how not? In what sense have we assumed that competition exists?

2. Is there competition between the owner of good land and the owner of poor land?

3. Has the owner of a poor gold-mine a monopoly? Has the owner of a rich mine a monopoly?

4. Does the ownership of land give a monopoly? The ownership of a horse?

5. In what sense is a street-railway a monopoly? What is the value of its franchise?

6. Why does the public consent to grant patents or public franchises?

7. If one company controlled all the petroleum in the world, what would it consider in fixing the selling price?

8. Why will railroads issue commutation tickets?

NOTE.--Of the very large recent literature bearing on monopoly and trusts may be mentioned as especially useful: J. B. Clark, Control of Trusts; R. T. Ely, Monopolies and Trusts; J. W. Jenks, The Trust Problem (a summary by the expert for the Industrial Commission); J. E. le Rossignol, Monopolies, Past and Present; Report of the Chicago Conference on Trusts, 1899; Report of the United States Industrial Commission, 19 vols., 1900-2 (a mine of information).