As per wikipedia, Monopoly is
In economics, a monopoly exists when a specific individual or an enterprise has sufficient control over a particular product or service to determine significantly the terms on which other individuals shall have access to it. Monopolies are thus characterized by a lack of economic competition for the good or service that they provide and a lack of viable substitute goods. The verb "monopolize" refers to the process by which a firm gains persistently greater market share than what is expected under perfect competition.
Interesting question is, do we end up in a monopolistic situation on our own or does someone really work towards that situation? Typically we have monopoly either because the product or service has deliberately killed the competitors or product or service is far superior compared to the competition.
In another unique situation government actually creates monopolies in order to regulate the market e.g. in earlier days telephone communication was state owned so that private parties can not be in competition. Common reaction to monopoly is negative and it is perceived to be detrimental for the economy but if you actually look at different situations then it can be harmful only when there are malpractices followed to kill the competition. And in case monopoly is due to the superiority reason then rather than penalizing the company we should spend more energy in creating competition so that we have perfect market condition.
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