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A coercive monopoly is a term used by some to describe a government monopoly - either a monopoly granted to a private firm or one operated by the state. The term may sometimes cover the theoretical possibility of a monopoly created by the coercive actions of a private firm or individual, but usually the definition excludes this. The term is not widely used in economics, but has been employed for example by Nathaniel Branden and others associated with Ayn Rand and her philosophy of objectivism.

The classical definition (eg Branden, 1962 ) of "coercive monopoly" essentially equates it with a monopoly based on government authority: "a business concern that can set its prices and production policies independent of the market, with immunity from competition, from the law of supply and demand." (Alan Greenspan ) As Branden makes clear, "In the whole history of capitalism, no one has been able to establish a coercive monopoly by means of competition on a free market. There is only one way to forbid entry into a given field of production: by law."

External links

• Antitrust Policy As Corporate Welfare by Clyde Wayne Crews Jr "Coercive monopoly power does not emerge from the transitory outcomes of the voluntary exchanges that comprise the marketplace. It is hoped that policymakers will come to recognize that government cannot protect the public from monopoly power, because it is the source of such power."
• Antitrust Laws Harm Consumers and Stifle Competition by Edward W. Younkins "a coercive monopoly is closed entry that can only be achieved by an act of government intervention in the form of special regulations, subsidies, or franchises"

• Market failure