RE: Microsoft vs Justice Department

[Tibor Machan <machan@chapman.edu>]

  On Sun, 2 Nov 1997, claribba wrote:
  
  > I am wondering what Tibor Machan would do if he had no choice but to buy
  > everything from Sears...clothes, food, appliances, books, autos, etc.  
  
  I certainly wouldn't presume to put shackles on the people who do produce
  what I want from them, even if they were all alone doing so.  SO long as
  Microsoft or Sears does not prevent -- or hire the government to prevent
  -- others from entering the market, raising capital to fund a competing
  firm, etc., I would regard it as the company's (people's) right to offer
  their products for sale at their own terms instead of calling in cops to
  impose mine.  Microsoft is no de jure monopolist, even if in some areas it
  may have the stage to itself -- like the Beatles did or Fred Astair or
  Ralph Nader (as a supposed consumer advocate).  A natural monopolist of
  this kind -- which means they have risen to the top, like a marathon
  runner has kept the lead and won the race -- is no threat to freedom or to
  productivity.  Anyone on this list is (largely) at liberty to compete with
  Microsoft or Sears (Sears nearly went under from competition a few years
  ago).
  	The only true monopoly is the US Post Office, with its coercive
  lock on first class mail and I don't see Ralph Nader complaining about
  that!
  
  Tibor Machan