So why does this matter? In the long run, companies that control most of their market are able to set or at least greatly control prices, because of the lack of better substitutes. Some monopolies are also able to have a decline in product quality, because if people have no alternatives, they are subject to the terms of the monopolist. Monopolies may also cause a decrease in a company's willingness to innovate, because they have no great competition and therefore no driving motivation to increase product quality.
These are all examples of the problems with monopolies, although some, like natural monopolies, aren't harmful and can even be beneficial. Electricity and water utilities are often monopolized in a certain location, because the cost of having multiple companies selling one of those products in one location exceeds the benefits. Additionally, taxi drivers in a location benefit from monopolies, because the greater the concentration of taxi drivers in an area, the less every driver in the area earns.
The issue is that monopolies similar to Amazon and Google (although neither are true monopolies) is that the bigger they become, the more dangerous they are, although nothing could be done until they are officially labeled as monopolies. So far, none of the aforementioned companies seem to be violating any laws or causing issues with quality, they do stifle diversity and innovation by making it extremely difficult for other similar companies to enter the market and be successful.
Although these companies are not exactly pure monopolies, the fact that they hold so much control over their respective markets and the monopolistic qualities they exhibit could possibly cause problems in the future as they can set prices at will and change the market themselves. What will happen when companies like Amazon finally control enough of their markets to be labeled as a monopoly? Will something be done, or will they continue to grow? Should something be done, or should the government let these companies be?
Sources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnmauldin/2019/04/11/america-has-a-monopoly-problem/#38e886872972
https://news.law.fordham.edu/jcfl/2019/03/10/are-there-monopolies-in-2019/
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/032615/are-monopolies-always-bad.asp
It was interesting to read this article and hear your opinion about which companies are monopolies today. With lots of new platforms, I do see differentiation with companies from others as they continue to update and implement new ideas that make them different from others. With natural monopolies, it makes sense that they are beneficial to everyone due to convenience. With Amazon and Google, we have seen the power that these companies have. When the public learns about Amazon and the way they treat their employees, because of the utility of Amazon it's hard for customers to sacrifice the resources Amazon provides for the ethics and morality of the company; we still continue using Amazon. This is where monopolies could be controversial, because they are getting so powerful that it is more difficult to control them.
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