Monopolies in Namibia
Monopolies - the good, the bad the ….. What are Monopolies? Most people discuss monopolies and blame it for high allowing certain companies to get away with higher prices or unsatisfactory service levels. The argument here is that if competition is allowed, this would automatically mean lower prices or better service. In the following text I look at the various types of monopolies, how they came to exist, and most importantly is competition always a good thing? There are various types of monopoly. Let us look at the most common types in Namibia. - Selling monopolies - a company is the only supplier of a product and the customers must accept the prices it fixes - Producing monopolies - a company controls the manufacture or source of supply - Trading monopolies - a company controls the marketing channel between the source and the customers Furthermore, most monopolies are either national (countrywide) or local in geography. There are three main ways in which a monopoly gets its power, ei...