The Problem With Socialist Monopolies

Democratic socialists routinely accuse capitalism of producing harmful monopolies, yet their preferred remedy, turning industries into public utilities, simply hands one single entity, the state, total and coercive control instead. Interventionists of all stripes don’t realize that monopoly is enabled and created by government policy, not inherent features of free markets.

The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold.

The democratic socialists are back, and, as always, they’re spouting promises to make things better and more affordable by turning them into public utilities! We are all supposed to be happy that more things will be administered with the enthusiasm and efficiency of the post office or the DMV.

However, when the state takes control of an industry, it almost never makes things better. While socialists argue that public utilities avoid wasteful duplication, undermine natural monopolies, and make the utilities more accountable to the people, they aren’t telling you the downsides.