The innovative contributions of the Italian Marginalists - Pareto, Pantaleoni, De Viti de Marco and Barone, to economic theory have previously been overlooked. This is the first book to deal with the history of the theory of market power and of its relation with competition, focusing on the distinct intellectual tradition that is Italian Marginalist economic thought. Monopoly Power and Competition is a vital resource for historians of economic thought, as it explores a relatively untouched area of microeconomics that sheds light on the theories surrounding monopoly power and barriers to entry.

The innovative contributions of the Italian Marginalists - Pareto, Pantaleoni, De Viti de Marco and Barone, to economic theory have previously been overlooked. This is the first book to deal with the history of the theory of market power and of its relation with competition, focusing on the distinct intellectual tradition that is Italian Marginalist economic thought. Monopoly Power and Competition is a vital resource for historians of economic thought, as it explores a relatively untouched area of microeconomics that sheds light on the theories surrounding monopoly power and barriers to entry.

First Published in 1994. As economics becomes increasingly fragmented into independent fields, there are at least two unifying concepts: supply and demand, and monopoly power. This is a book about power; one that supplements a strong microeconomic analysis with historical examples and empirical evidence.

In Defense of Monopoly offers an unconventional but empirically grounded argument in favor of market monopolies. Authors McKenzie and Lee claim that conventional, static models exaggerate the harm done by real-world monopolies, and they show why some degree of monopoly presence is necessary to maximize the improvement of human welfare over time. Inspired by Joseph Schumpeter's suggestion that market imperfections can drive an economy's long-term progress, In Defense of Monopoly defies conventional assumptions to show readers why an economic system's failure to efficiently allocate its resources is actually a necessary precondition for maximizing the system's long-term performance: the perfectly fluid, competitive economy idealized by most economists is decidedly inferior to one characterized by market entry and exit restrictions or costs. An economy is not a board game in which players compete for a limited number of properties, nor is it much like the kind of blackboard games that economists use to develop their monopoly models. As McKenzie and Lee demonstrate, the creation of goods and services in the real world requires not only competition but the prospect of gains beyond a normal competitive rate of return.

This book addresses the fundamental issues underlying the debate over electric power regulation and deregulation. After decades of the presumption that the electric power industry was a natural monopoly, recent times have seen a trend of deregulation followed by panicked re-regulation. This important book critically analyses this controversial area from a legal and economic perspective.