Editing Monopoly (section)

=== Monopolies of resources ===
==== Salt ====
{{See also|Salt March}}
Vending of common salt ([[sodium chloride]]) was historically a natural monopoly. Until recently, a combination of strong sunshine and low humidity or an extension of peat marshes was necessary for producing salt from the sea, the most plentiful source. Changing sea levels periodically caused salt "[[famine]]s" and communities were forced to depend upon those who controlled the scarce inland mines and salt springs, which were often in hostile areas (e.g. the [[Sahara]]) requiring well-organised security for transport, storage, and distribution.

The [[Salt Commission]] was a legal monopoly in China. Formed in 758, the commission controlled salt production and sales in order to raise [[tax]] revenue for the [[Tang dynasty]].

The "[[Gabelle]]" was a notoriously high tax levied upon salt in the [[Kingdom of France]]. The much-hated levy had a role in the beginning of the [[French Revolution]], when strict legal controls specified who was allowed to sell and distribute salt. First instituted in 1286, the Gabelle was not permanently abolished until 1945.<ref>{{cite journal | first= Jean | last = Chazelas | title = La suppression de la gabelle du sel en 1945 | journal = Le rôle du sel dans l'histoire: Travaux préparés sous la direction de Michel Mollat | publisher = Presses universitaires de France | year = 1968 | pages = 263–65 | oclc = 14501767 }}</ref>

==== Coal ====
Robin Gollan argues in ''The Coalminers of New South Wales'' that anti-competitive practices developed in the coal industry of Australia's [[Newcastle, Australia|Newcastle]] as a result of the [[business cycle]]. The monopoly was generated by formal meetings of the local management of coal companies agreeing to fix a minimum price for sale at dock. This collusion was known as "The Vend". The Vend ended and was reformed repeatedly during the late 19th century, ending by recession in the business cycle. "The Vend" was able to maintain its monopoly due to trade union assistance, and material advantages (primarily coal geography). During the early 20th century, as a result of comparable monopolistic practices in the Australian coastal shipping business, the Vend developed as an informal and illegal collusion between the steamship owners and the coal industry, eventually resulting in the High Court case ''[[Adelaide Steamship Company|Adelaide Steamship Co.]] Ltd v. R. & AG''.<ref>{{cite book | first = Robin | last = Gollan | title = The Coalminers of New South Wales: a history of the union, 1860–1960 | location = Melbourne | publisher = Melbourne University Press | year = 1963 | pages = 45–134}}</ref>

==== Persian filoselle (raw silk) ====
In the 17th century, Shah Abbas established New Julfa (a suburb in the capital of Isfahan) to concentrate [[Armenia]]n financial capital in Iran. Accordingly, he gave [[Armenia]]ns various privileges, including the monopoly to trade Persian filoselle (raw silk). Armenians exported it all over the world, including Asia, Europe, and America. By the 1750s, Armenia already controlled 75% of the total silk trade in the area. This resulted in a boom in Armenian commerce, which lasted for the next 150 years.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bakhchinyan|first=Artsvi|date=2017|title=The Activity of Armenian Merchants in International Trade|url=https://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/rp/publications/no14/14-03_Bakhchinyan.pdf|journal=Hokudai|pages=24}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=September 2023}} At present, as it happens, Armenia's own economy is itself highly monopolized; in fact, with 19% of its economy monopolized, Armenia was the most monopolized country in Eastern Europe and Central Asia in 2009.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mikaelian |first=Hrant |date=2015 |title=Informal Economy of Armenia Reconsidered |url=https://www.academia.edu/14915579 |journal=Caucasus Analytical Digest |issue=75 |pages=2–6 |via=Academia.edu}}</ref>

==== Petroleum ====
[[Standard Oil]] was an American [[petroleum|oil]] producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870, it became the largest oil refiner in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/history/about_who_history.aspx |title=Exxon Mobil – Our history |access-date=2009-02-03 |publisher=Exxon Mobil Corp.}}</ref> [[John D. Rockefeller]] was a founder, chairman and major shareholder. The company was an innovator in the development of the business [[trust (monopoly)|trust]]. The Standard Oil trust streamlined production and logistics, lowered costs, and undercut competitors. "[[Trust-busting]]" critics accused Standard Oil of using aggressive pricing to destroy competitors and form a monopoly that threatened consumers. Its controversial history as one of the world's first and largest [[multinational corporation]]s ended in 1911, when the [[United States]] [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] ruled that Standard was an illegal monopoly. The Standard Oil trust was dissolved into 33 smaller companies; two of its surviving "child" companies are [[ExxonMobil]] and the [[Chevron Corporation]].

==== Steel ====
[[U.S. Steel]] has been accused of being a monopoly. [[J. P. Morgan]] and [[Elbert Henry Gary|Elbert H. Gary]] founded U.S. Steel in 1901 by combining [[Andrew Carnegie]]'s [[Carnegie Steel Company]] with Gary's Federal Steel Company and [[William Henry "Judge" Moore]]'s National Steel Company.<ref>Morris, Charles R. ''The Tycoons: How [[Andrew Carnegie]], [[John D. Rockefeller]], [[Jay Gould]], and [[J.P. Morgan]] invented the American supereconomy'', H. Holt and Co., New York, 2005, pp. 255–258. {{ISBN|0-8050-7599-2}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/united-states-steel-corporation-history/ | title = United States Steel Corporation History | publisher = FundingUniverse | access-date = 3 January 2014}}</ref> At one time, U.S. Steel was the largest steel producer and largest corporation in the world. In its first full year of operation, U.S. Steel made 67 percent of all the steel produced in the United States. However, U.S. Steel's share of the expanding market slipped to 50 percent by 1911,<ref name="post">{{cite web|url=http://old.post-gazette.com/businessnews/20010225ussteel2.asp|title=Steel Standing: U.S. Steel celebrates 100 years|last=Boselovic|first=Len|date=February 25, 2001|work=PG News – Business & Technology|publisher=post-gazette.com – PG Publishing|access-date=6 August 2013|archive-date=12 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012210047/http://old.post-gazette.com/businessnews/20010225ussteel2.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> and antitrust prosecution that year failed.

==== Diamonds ====
[[De Beers]] settled charges of price-fixing in the diamond trade in the 2000s. De Beers is well known for its monopoloid practices throughout the 20th century, whereby it used its dominant position to manipulate the international diamond market. The company used several methods to exercise this control over the market. Firstly, it convinced independent producers to join its single channel monopoly, it flooded the market with diamonds similar to those of producers who refused to join the cartel, and lastly, it purchased and stockpiled diamonds produced by other manufacturers in order to control prices through limiting supply.

In 2000, the De Beers business model changed due to factors such as the decision by producers in Russia, Canada and Australia to distribute diamonds outside the De Beers channel, as well as rising awareness of [[blood diamond]]s that forced De Beers to "avoid the risk of bad publicity" by limiting sales to its own mined products. De Beers' market share by value fell from as high as 90% in the 1980s to less than 40% in 2012, having resulted in a more fragmented diamond market with more transparency and greater liquidity.

In November 2011, the Oppenheimer family announced its intention to sell the entirety of its 40% stake in De Beers to [[Anglo American plc]] thereby increasing Anglo American's ownership of the company to 85%.[30] The transaction was worth £3.2&nbsp;billion ($5.1&nbsp;billion) in cash and ended the Oppenheimer dynasty's 80-year ownership of De Beers.