Editing State monopoly (section)

== Examples ==
The most prominent example of the monopoly is law and the legitimate use of physical force.<ref>K. Grechenig, M. Kolmar, The State's Enforcement Monopoly and the Private Protection of Property, [http://ssrn.com/abstract=2404617 Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE) 2014, vol. 170 (1), 5-23].</ref> In many countries, the [[postal system]] is run by the government with competition forbidden by law in some or all services. Also, government monopolies on [[public utilities]], [[telecommunications]] and [[Rail transport|railroads]] have historically been common, though recent decades have seen a strong [[privatization]] trend throughout the [[industrialized world]].

In [[Nordic countries]], some goods deemed harmful are distributed through a government monopoly. For example, in [[Denmark]], [[Finland]], [[Iceland]], [[Norway]], and [[Sweden]] government-owned companies have [[alcohol monopoly|monopolies for selling alcoholic beverages]]. [[Casino]]s and other institutions for [[gambling]] might also be monopolized. In Finland, the government has a monopoly to operate slot machines (see [[Veikkaus]]). Similar regimes for alcohol exist in the [[United States]], where certain [[alcoholic beverage control state]]s (ABC states), e.g. [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Virginia]], maintain state-owned-and-operated monopolies on the sale of certain kinds of alcohol (typically [[distilled spirits]] and sometimes [[wine]] or [[beer]]). In these monopolies over harmful goods or services, the monopoly is designed to reduce consumption of the product by deliberately decreasing the efficiency of the market.

Governments often create or allow monopolies to exist and grant them patents. This limits entry and allow the patent-holding firm to earn a monopoly profit from an invention.

Health care systems where the government controls the industry and specifically prohibits competition, such as [[Health care in Canada|in Canada]], are government monopolies.<ref>{{cite news |first=David |last=Gratzer |author-link=David Gratzer |title= The Ugly Truth About Canadian Health Care |url=http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_3_canadian_healthcare.html |date=Summer 2007|work=[[City Journal (New York)|City Journal]] |publisher= [[Manhattan Institute]] |access-date=29 December 2008 }}</ref>