Due to a lack of competition, a monopoly increases its profits by reducing its output and raising the price. Consumers suffer a social cost because there is less of the good available. An example is Microsoft Word. In a perfectly competitive market, the price of Microsoft Word would be equal to its marginal cost (MC), which may be only $20. But instead Microsoft, by virtue of its near-monopoly, can sell it for perhaps $200. Fewer copies of Microsoft Word are available at that high price, and many computer users go without it. | Due to a lack of competition, a monopoly increases its profits by reducing its output and raising the price. Consumers suffer a social cost because there is less of the good available. An example is Microsoft Word. In a perfectly competitive market, the price of Microsoft Word would be equal to its marginal cost (MC), which may be only $20. But instead Microsoft, by virtue of its near-monopoly, can sell it for perhaps $200. Fewer copies of Microsoft Word are available at that high price, and many computer users go without it. |