Efficiency of Monopolies

Popular belief may have it that monopolies are efficient - that they provide great products. For example, many will swear by their John Deere Tractor or Ford truck, or by a certain Unilever soap bar.

But what is the cost of monopoly? When competition is actively eradicated as a matter of an organization's policy - whether a drug cartel, a government, a corporation, or a nonprofit - the necessity to innovate is erased - at least in some way. What are the consequences of this erasure?

It is useful to examine the specifics of how products and services suffur. Monopoly may be considered part of Competitive Waste. Understanding the true ramifications of monopoly on product and service quality and cost - is important - if we are to create a system that is based on free enterprise as opposed to monopoly.