Some markets are rigged by physics, not villains, into a single winner

When the up-front cost of infrastructure is enormous but serving one more customer costs almost nothing — water pipes, rail tracks, power lines — the biggest firm can always undercut smaller rivals until only one is left standing. John Stuart Mill described this logic in 1848, long before electricity or telecoms existed. It's why these industries are usually left as a regulated monopoly rather than forced into competition that would just recreate itself anyway.

— John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy — Book V, Chapter 1 (1848)
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