Competing in Services

Re: Competing in Services

How is it that real estate agents control so much of
> the market? ... I never understood why it is the
> way it is.
>

***Like doctors lawyers, dentists, it is a complex web of laws, customs, access
to
education, etc that maintains the status quo... like monopoly on long distance,
or
eyeglasses, small biz will bring them down.***

> > Question: Is it better to government regulators sort
> > out market distortions,
> > or leave it to small business people to correct
> > inbalances?
>
> There is room for both. Ideally, small business would
> do the job. But if the "market distortion" is a
> monopoly, then consumers are hurt, ideas are stifled,
> prices rise.

***The only true monopolies are govt monopolies... think telephone, optometry,
Jim
Crow laws... all government rules.***

I think big oil is a monopoly. ..BP, Texaco and Shell have
> one and OPEC has the other. A small businessman just
> can't go out and start a refinery. It is way too
> expensive. That is when government should step in

***But self-employed sole-proprietor Marc Rich became a billionaire getting the
oil
flowing during the oil crisis in the 70's, which was caused by the very
monopolies you
mentioned. Of course solving the oil crisis was a federal offence, and he
escaped to
Switzerland with his money where being a small businessman is not a crime. Thus
no
extradition. Bill Clinton reasonably "pardoned" Marc Rich, which caused a
firestorm of
prosecutors objections, but too bad. ***

. I
> think Microsoft is a monopoly too. They have 95% of
> the market share. They are preditory about keeping it
> too.

I have a half dozen computers in my home and office, and not a single one has
any
microsoft products on any of them. Their products are mediocre and I think a
net
deficit in operation. Linux, Apple, Google... all are eating parts of the
M-soft pie.
Microsoft is BIG, but only because their #1 customer, by far, is government.
Microsoft grew both because and as govt grew the last 20 years. (This is true of
Oracle too, it was started as a company building databases for the CIA, a secret
project called..you guessed it...Oracle.) The pendulum is swinging back, the
republicans pushed big govt too far, and the dems will reduce it, looting
companies
like microsoft to fund their pet projects.

Now we can debate these very much, but the lesson I believe is to spot the
nonsense,
and the distortions based on the nonsense, and exploit the pretensions to do
well
while you do good.

John

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