If the public truly desires the millions of book titles offerred to them each year by publishers, the market will provide incentives to writers to produce those titles. Authors will find new methods for distributing and being compensated for their ideas. Some are publishing via the internet. Others are self-publishing their books. At the same time, publishers have found ways to limit their costs of book offerrings.

Trust the market, bafusilier. It is far more effective at meeting consumers’ needs than would be any form of government price restrictions. That’s why market economies offer consumers so many more book titles than planned economies ever can.

placebo: “”Economies of scale” were not a factor in my case.”

I do not understand these two statements, If Waste Management did not enjoy economies of acale, then why didn’t you own your own landfill? If Waste Management did not enjoy economies of scale, why did their larger size make any difference when you competed with them?

Like I said, there is nothing in libertarianism that says any particular business is sacred and deserves to exist no matter what. So stop misrepresenting us.

In response to johndewey: My definition of (and experience with) predatory pricing is when a dominant company offers unreasonably low rates with the short term goal of stifling competition, and the long term goal of charging unreasonably high rates once the competition is stifled. It ends up being a war of capital attrition that a small company has little chance of winning.

“Economies of scale” were not a factor in my case. I worked for the company that purchased mine. Their costs, especially overhead, were much larger than my company’s. Economies of scale is one of those things that is often promised during consolidations and mergers yet seldom delivered. Big companies mimic big government. They too frequently become inefficient, lumbering bureaucracies.

First, it hasn’t always been illegal. Second, if the concept has any validity at all, then someone would have risked the illegal act in order to gain advantage. I can think of no law – even those which carry death sentence penalties – which has deterred every potential violator. Can you?

Perhaps you and Professor Boudreaux disagree on what is meant by the term “predatory pricing’.

Your story reads to me as very simple case of competition. I don’t see how it’s predatory pricing. The fact that Waste Management owned a landfill gave it a competitive advantage over your company.

” it was difficult for my small company to compete against a behemoth that employed such tactics.”

What tactics? Using it’s economies of scale as a competitive advantage? Are you suggesting that consumers should not be allowed to reap the benefits of Waste Management’s competitive advantages?

You are either naive, blind or dishonest. Fifteen years ago I owned and operated a small trash hauling company with 30 employees. Waste Management (with $10 Billion plus in annual sales) had a major presence about 40 miles away and owned their own landfill. Disposal costs (i.e, landfill tipping fees) were our largest expense for the industrial customers that we serviced. Typically more than 60% of revenues from our industrial customers was paid out for disposal costs. A load that we would charge $500 would cost us $300+ at the landfill. When Waste Management decided that they wanted an account that we serviced they would offer to haul their trash for less than it cost us in disposal fees. They would offer to haul that $500 load for less than $300. They could do this because of their size and because they owned their own landfill. Despite our efficiency and quality service, it was difficult for my small company to compete against a behemoth that employed such tactics.

You are either naive, blind or dishonest. Fifteen years ago I owned and operated a small trash hauling company with 30 employees. Waste Management (with $10 Billion plus in annual sales) had a major presence about 40 miles away and owned their own landfill. Disposal costs (i.e, landfill tipping fees) were our largest expense for the industrial customers that we serviced. Typically more than 60% of revenues from our industrial customers was paid out for disposal costs. A load that we would charge $500 would cost us $300+ at the landfill. When Waste Management decided that they wanted an account that we serviced they would offer to haul their trash for less than it cost us in disposal fees. They would offer to haul that $500 load for less than $300. They could do this because of their size and because they owned their own landfill. Despite our efficiency and quality service, it was difficult for my small company to compete against a behemoth that employed such tactics.