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1、TheMythofNaturalMonopolyThomasJ.DiLorenzoTheveryterm"publicutility"...isanabsurdone.Everygoodisuseful"tothepublic,"andalmosteverygood...maybeconsidered"neces-sary."Anydesignationofafewindustriesas"publicutilities"iscompletelyarbitraryandunjustified.-
2、MurrayRothbard,PowerandMarketostso-calledpublicutilitieshavebeengrantedgovernmen-Mtalfranchisemonopoliesbecausetheyarethoughttobe"naturalmonopolies."Putsimply,anaturalmonopolyissaidtooccurwhenproductiontechnology,suchasrelativelyhighfixedcosts,causes
3、long-runaveragetotalcoststodeclineasoutputexpands.Insuchindustries,thetheorygoes,asingleproducerwilleventuallybeabletoproduceatalowercostthananytwootherproducers,therebycreatinga"natural"monopoly.Higherpriceswillresultifmorethanoneproducersuppliesthe
4、market.Furthermore,competitionissaidtocauseconsumerinconven-iencebecauseoftheconstructionofduplicativefacilities,e.g.,dig-gingupthestreetstoputindualgasorwaterlines.Avoidingsuchinconveniencesisanotherreasonofferedforgovernmentfranchisemonopoliesforin
5、dustrieswithdeclininglong-runaveragetotalcosts.Itisamyththatnaturalmonopolytheorywasdevelopedfirstbyeconomists,andthenusedbylegislatorsto"justify"franchisemonop-olies.Thetruthisthatthemonopolieswerecreateddecadesbeforethetheorywasformalizedbyinterven
6、tion-mindedeconomists,whothenusedthetheoryasanexpostrationaleforgovernmentintervention.Atthetimewhenthefirstgovernmentfranchisemonopolieswerebeinggranted,thelargemajorityofeconomistsunderstoodthatlarge-scale,capitalintensiveproductiondidnotleadtomono
7、poly,butwasanab-solutelydesirableaspectofthecompetitiveprocess.*ThomasJ.DiLorenzoisprofessorofeconomicsattheSellingerSchoolofBusinessandManagement,LoyolaCollege.TheReviewofAustrianEconomicsVol.9,No.2(1996):43-58ISSN0889-304744TheReviewofAustrianEcono
8、micsVol.9,No.2Theword"processnisimportanthere.Ifcompetitionisviewedasadynamic,rivalrousprocessofentrepreneurship,thenthefactthatasingleproducerhappenstohavethelowestcostsatanyonepointintimeisoflittleornoconsequence.Theenduringforcesofcompeti-tion-inc
