>> Unregulated free markets always create monopolies, or if you prefer concentrates ownership on so few hands that said hands have what functionally amounts to monopoly. It's an inherent function of accumulation of wealth beyond the needs of the household. This is exactly what I was trying to express. It is the natural function of power to organize and consolidate itself. Intelligent actors, if they're in competition with similarly powerful entities, will quickly understand that there is greater profit in stability and that their competitive energies are better directed at controlling their consumer base. Nations rarely went to war with each other if they believed that the outcome was at all in doubt or if the cost-benefit analysis was negative. Three cattle barons are eventually going to sit down at a table and price fix instead of losing manpower to endless range wars.