I didn't answer your question because it's pointless.
Ah, the argument form of the losing side of a debate. In other words,
you have no argument to counter with so you just opt-out and label it ridiculous. From where I sit, you appear to be another shill for the right-wing agenda in this country, namely to put us back in the Dark Ages where the ultra-rich control everything. Things like anti-trust laws stand in your way since they seek to promote competition rather than collusion. I'm sure you're against anti-lobbying efforts or any measure designed to return power to the people of this country rather than the minority ruling oligarchy.
Fighting collusion with anti-trust regulations is like treating a common cold with chemotherapy.
Given there is no known cure for the common cold, your comparison is pretty darn apt. You replace a ridiculous treatment with no treatment at all. Or perhaps you prefer the current pharmaceutical arrangements whereby huge profits are made treating symptoms rather than seeking a cure since there is little profit in cures. Controlled disease management is vastly preferred whereby you keep paying to keep something under control (e.g. AIDS drugs) rather than cure it or prevent it with a vaccine.
A better comparison would indeed be to treat cancer with cell-destroying chemo rather than an actual cure because the weakened immune system ensure the cancer will likely come back in a few month to years and you can charge them all over again (at least until they die; a cure means you couldn't charge them again ever and it would probably not be expensive enough to generate a real profit in the first place). And PROFIT is what the health care industry is all about. People don't become doctors or lawyers these days to help other people. They do it to help themselves (to your money).
And while Smith did argue that cartels are an imperfection inherent to capitalism (*no one* argues capitalism is flawless), it doesn't follow that he would endorse the ridiculous anti-trust legislation you're defending.
Exactly what is ridiculous about anti-trust law? You keep throwing around big words and telling people you won't respond to their arguments because it's "pointless", but you fail to make a cogent argument of your own other than let the rich get richer. You mention market forces being a stabilizing force yet you neglect to mention how exactly a market force (let alone your average citizen who is at the mercy of whatever price the "cartel" is pushing) is supposed to counter a complete monopoly, for example.
A good example are electricity suppliers that have been deregulated. Competition was the argument for deregulation, yet everywhere I've ever looked, the prices went UP as soon as they were deregulated because now they are looking at operating for potentially limitless profits, rather than regulated rates designed to protect the consumer from gouging. Sure, you see all kinds of suppliers that are supposed to be competing for your dollar, but there are only one set of transmission lines and that supplier gets a huge share regardless. In fact, the difference between the actual power rates are miniscule and often made nullified by hidden fees.
Look at Allied Waste & Waste Management. Between the two of them, they control over 30% of the country where they are the sole supplier for that area due to buying out all the competition. 1/3 the country has NO CHOICE WHAT-SO-EVER for waste removal. So it shouldn't be any shock that Allied Waste (previously another company until bought out 6 months after moving here) raised my rate 3x a year (every billing cycle of 4 months here) since I moved into this house over 7 years ago. I went from a reasonable rate of $15 a month to $24 a month. The CEO was quoted as saying they will continue to raise rates because while they may lose a few customers,
most customers have no choice and will have to pay up. Their profits have since gone through the roof.
Your methodology is that market forces will fix that problem. But exactly what forces are those? They control all the dumps in those areas, licenses can take years to set up and therefore no further competition is forth-coming. Without government intervention, they will continue to buy out and steam-roll over what's left until they finally merge as 1 single monopoly over most of the country and can set any rate they deem fit.
The problem is that left unchecked, corporations will do what they're designed to do to the nth degree, which is to make money at any cost. A corporation is not really a person. It has no ethics. It has no conscience. If anything, it's an excuse for those running it to place the blame on someone else (the shareholder demanding profits). With no regulations (be they safety, environmental or competition-based), it becomes an unfeeling BEAST that devours everything in its path.
This idea that it's a GOOD thing is based on nothing more than the sheer
GREED of those making that argument for they have absolutely no other motive to base their arguments on. They want MORE MONEY. And it will never be enough. Billionares like Steve Jobs or the Walton Family were/are never satiated. There is always MORE money to be made. Never mind if they could never spend a fraction of it in a lifetime. It's about power, control, influence and status. Who cares about the people hurt along the way? It's not their concern. But if people don't take responsibility for their actions, who will? They better hope there isn't a God out there waiting to judge their actions in the end because I sure as hell wouldn't want to be in their shoes trying to explain it all away as "Just Business".
OTOH, a person cannot be what he is not. Many consider this a "dog eat dog" world and they, having mostly an animalistic nature themselves, figure they better screw the other guy over before he screws them. They never consider the "golden rule" philosophy of treating others as you would have them treat you. I mean who cares? There's more people where that guy that died due to no safety standards came from, right? He's expendable! Stop getting in the way of business with safety regulations! It costs money and therefore jobs since we will send them overseas instead!
Of course, that's a little like moving a garbage barge down river to the next city instead. It doesn't really get rid of the garbage. It just makes it someone else's problem.
