Monopoly

In economics, a monopoly (from the Greek monos, one + polein, to sell) is defined as a market situation where there is only one provider of a product or service. The term should be contrasted with monopsony where there is only one buyer. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of competition, lack of viable substitutes for the traded good or service, and high barriers to market entry for potential competitors. For example, the monopolist may control a valuable input (such as unique natural resource), or may control some unique intellectual property or may have a position entrenched by legislation.

Large corporations often attempt to monopolize markets through horizontal integration tactics, in which they control many small, seemingly diverse companies to create the illusion of competition. A magazine corporation, for example could publish many different magazines on many different subjects, but would still be practicing monopolistic tactics if intent of doing this was to contol the entire magazine-reader market, and prevent the emergence of any competing companies.

The word is also often used for companies that do have competition, but which have a large market share and use their size to compete in ways which are considered unfair, such as dumping products below cost to harm competitors, creating tying arrangements between their products, and other practices regulated by Antitrust law.

The term "natural monopoly" is sometimes used to describe monopolies that come about because production conditions make a single provider most efficient. A "state monopoly" is a provider that is unique because the law explicitly forbids competition.

Monopolies will generally charge a higher price for their products and sell less compared to the situation in a competitive market in order to maximise their profits. This will typically lead to an outcome which is inefficient in the sense of Pareto efficiency. It is also often argued that monopolies tend to become less efficient and innovative over time, becoming "complacent giants", because they don't have to be efficient or innovative to compete in the marketplace. Some argue that it is good to allow a firm to attempt to monopolize a market, since practices such as dumping can benefit consumers in the short term. Once the firm grows too big, it can then be dealt with via regulation.

Sometimes, though, this very loss of efficiency can raise the potential value of a competitor enough to overcome market entry barriers, or provide incentive for research and investment into new alternatives.

When monopolies are not broken through the open market, often a government will step in to either regulate the monopoly, or forcibly break it up (see Antitrust law). Public utilities in many locations are an example of the former. AT&T is a good example of the latter. When it was broken up into the "Baby Bell" components, MCI, Sprint, and other companies were able to compete effectively in the long-distance phone market and started to take phone traffic from the less efficient AT&T.

In economics a company is said to have monopoly power if it faces a downward sloping demand curve (see supply and demand). This is in contrast to a price taker that faces a horizontal demand curve. A price taker cannot choose the price that they sell at, since if they set it above the equilibrium price, they will sell none, and if they set it below the equilibrium price, they will have an infinite number of buyers (and be making less money than they could if they sold at the equilibrium price). In contrast, a business with monopoly power can choose the price they want to sell at. If they set it higher, they sell less. If they set it lower, they sell more.

If a monopoly can only set one price it will set it where marginal cost (MC) equals marginal revenue (MR) as seen on the below diagram. This can be seen on a supply and demand diagram for the firm. This will be at the quantity Qm and at the price Pm. This is above the competitive price of Pc and with a smaller quantity that the competitive quantity of Qc. The profit the monopoly gains is the shaded in area labeled profit.

As long as the price elasticity of demand (in absolute value) for most customers is less than one, it is very advantageous to increase the price: the seller gets more money for less goods. With an increase of the price the price elasticity tends to rise, and in the optimum mentioned above it will for most customers be above one.

See also: government-granted monopoly, Microsoft antitrust case, market forms, Committee of Fifty, Oligopoly, Price discrimination.

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Monopoly is also a popular board game. See Monopoly game.

Monopoly (game)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Monopoly is a board game which involves using play money to trade real estate. It is named after the economic concept of monopoly, the domination of a market by a single seller. The game was originally designed to promote Georgism.

History

Monopoly was first marketed on a broad scale by Parker Brothers on November 5, 1935. It became popular in the United States during the Great Depression.

Although Monopoly is frequently thought to have been invented by Charles Darrow, its origins actually go back to 1904, when Lizie J. Magie patented a game called "The Landlord's Game". This original game was played in various forms over the years and as it evolved it later became known in some circles as "Monopoly." One version of the game, commonly played in the Philadelphia area, had Atlantic City street names; this game was taught to Charles Darrow, who then illegally sold the game to Parker Brothers. Later controversy about the origins of the game emerged when Parker Brothers attempted to suppress the publication of a game called Anti-Monopoly, designed by Ralph Ansbach. Their trademark suit against Ansbach went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1983, where the court found in favor of Ansbach because Darrow did not actually invent the game.

Monopoly has been produced for international markets, with the place names being localised for cities including London, England and Paris, France, and for countries including the Netherlands and Germany, among others.

In recent years, the owners of the game have created dozens of versions in which the names of the properties and other elements of the game are replaced by others with some theme. There are versions about national parks, Star Trek, Disney, various particular cities (such as Las Vegas), states, NASCAR, and many others.

Board and equipment

Each player is represented by a small pewter token which moves around the edge of the board according to die roll. The ten playing pieces currently used in the classic edition are as follows: a top hat, an iron, a Scottie (Scottish terrier) dog, a battleship, a car, a wheelbarrow, a thimble, a cannon, a horse and rider, and an old boot.

The board consists of 40 squares, containing 28 properties, 3 "Chance" squares, 3 "Community Chest" squares, a "Luxury Tax" square, an "Income Tax" square, "GO", "Jail", "Free Parking", and "Go to Jail". In the US version the properties are named after locations in Atlantic City, NJ.

Standard (American Edition) Monopoly game board layout
GO ⇒ Mediterranean Avenue Community Chest Baltic Avenue Income Tax Reading Railroad Oriental Avenue Chance Vermont Avenue Connecticut Avenue Jail



Boardwalk    Monopoly    St. Charles Place

Luxury Tax Electric Company

Park Place       States Avenue

Chance    Virginia Avenue

Short Line Railroad Pennsylvania Railroad

Pennsylvania Avenue       St. James Place

Community Chest Community Chest

North Carolina Avenue       Tennessee Avenue

Pacific Avenue       New York Avenue

Go To Jail    Water Works       B&O Railroad       Chance    Free Parking

Marvin Gardens Ventnor Avenue Atlantic Avenue Illinois Avenue Indiana Avenue Kentucky Avenue

**Standard (American Edition) Monopoly game board layout**
GO ⇒	Mediterranean Avenue	Community Chest	Baltic Avenue	Income Tax	Reading Railroad	Oriental Avenue	Chance	Vermont Avenue	Connecticut Avenue	Jail

Boardwalk		Monopoly		St. Charles Place
Luxury Tax	Electric Company
Park Place			States Avenue
Chance		Virginia Avenue
Short Line Railroad	Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Avenue			St. James Place
Community Chest	Community Chest
North Carolina Avenue			Tennessee Avenue
Pacific Avenue			New York Avenue
Go To Jail		Water Works			B&O Railroad			Chance		Free Parking
Marvin Gardens	Ventnor Avenue	Atlantic Avenue	Illinois Avenue	Indiana Avenue	Kentucky Avenue

The other versions of the game have different property names, and the prices may be denominated in another currecy, but the game mechanics are identical. Below is the standard British board.

Standard (British Edition) Monopoly game board layout
GO ⇒ Old Kent Road (£60) Community Chest Whitechapel Road (£60) Income Tax (Pay £200) Kings Cross station (£200) The Angel Islington (£100) Chance Euston Road (£100) Pentonville Road (£120) Jail



Mayfair (£400)    Monopoly    Pall Mall (£140)

Super Tax (Pay £100) Electric Company (£150)

Park Lane (£350)       Whitehall (£140)

Chance    Northumberland Avenue (£160)

Liverpool Street station (£200) Marylebone Station (£200)

Bond Street (£320)       Bow Street (£180)

Community Chest Community Chest

Oxford Street (£300)       Marlborough Street (£180)

Regent Street (£300)       Vine Street (£200)

Go To Jail    Water Works (£150)       Fenchurch Street station (£200)       Chance    Free Parking

Piccadilly (£280) Coventry Street (£260) Leicester Square (£260) Trafalgar Square (£240) Fleet Street (£220) Strand (£220)

**Standard (British Edition) Monopoly game board layout**
GO ⇒	Old Kent Road (£60)	Community Chest	Whitechapel Road (£60)	Income Tax (Pay £200)	Kings Cross station (£200)	The Angel Islington (£100)	Chance	Euston Road (£100)	Pentonville Road (£120)	Jail

Mayfair (£400)		Monopoly		Pall Mall (£140)
Super Tax (Pay £100)	Electric Company (£150)
Park Lane (£350)			Whitehall (£140)
Chance		Northumberland Avenue (£160)
Liverpool Street station (£200)	Marylebone Station (£200)
Bond Street (£320)			Bow Street (£180)
Community Chest	Community Chest
Oxford Street (£300)			Marlborough Street (£180)
Regent Street (£300)			Vine Street (£200)
Go To Jail		Water Works (£150)			Fenchurch Street station (£200)			Chance		Free Parking
Piccadilly (£280)	Coventry Street (£260)	Leicester Square (£260)	Trafalgar Square (£240)	Fleet Street (£220)	Strand (£220)

Also included in the standard edition are:

A pair of dice.
A deed for each property. A deed is given to a player to signifiy ownership, and specifies purchase price, mortgage value, the cost of building houses and hotels on that property, and the various rents depending on how developed the property is. Properties include:
- 22 streets, divided into 8 color groups. A player must own all of a colour group in order to build houses or hotels.
- 4 railways. Players collect higher rent if they own more than one railway. Hotels and houses cannot be built on railways.
- 2 utilities. Players collect higher rent if they own both utilities. Hotels and houses cannot be built on utilities.
A supply of paper money. The supply of money is theoretically unlimited; if the bank runs out of money the players must make shift with other markers.
Thirty-two plastic houses and twelve plastic hotels. Unlike money, houses and hotels have a finite supply. If no more are available, no player may build them.
A deck of "Chance" cards and a deck of "Community Chest" cards. Players draw these cards when they land on the corresponding squares of the track, and follow the instructions printed on them.

Hasbro also sells a deluxe edition, which is mostly identical to the classic edition but has wooden houses and hotels and gold-toned tokens, including two additional tokens: a railroad locomotive and a moneybag.

Rules

From two to ten people may play Monopoly, but the game dynamics are ideal with six players. With more than six players, it is too likely that an individual will not have the opportunity to purchase significant property, and be bankrupted without ever having been in contention. With four or fewer players, there are not as many possible combinations of property ownership, and the importance of astute trading and negotiation is diminished.

Each player begins the game with $1500 in cash and his token on the Go square. All property deeds, houses, and hotels are held by the bank until purchased by the players.

Players take turns in order, as determined by chance prior to the game. A player's turn consists of rolling two dice and advancing on the board the corresponding number of squares clockwise around the track. Depending where he lands, he takes the following additional actions:

If the player lands on an unowned property, he may buy it for the price listed on the deed. If he declines to buy it, the property is immediately put up for auction. All players are eligible to participate in the auction, including the player who declined to buy it, and the bidding may start at any price. (Some house rules leave unwanted properties be, ie, they don't go up for auction, and they remain unowned. However, this rule tends to slow the game down.)
If the player lands on his own property, or on property which is owned by another player but currently mortgaged, he does nothing.
If the player lands on an unmortgaged property owned by another player, he pays rent to that person, as specified on the property's deed.
If the player lands on Chance, he receives a Chance card that has instructions on it which must be followed. Most of these involve moving, e.g. "Take a ride on the Reading", which means the player must advance his token to the Reading Railroad square, paying the owner the applicable rent, and collecting $200 if he passes Go. An oft-quoted Chance card is the one that reads, "Go directly to Jail. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200".
If the player lands on Community Chest he receives a card as with Chance, except that most Community Chest cards involve money, and are usually favorable to the drawing player, e.g., "Bank error in your favor. Collect $200".
If the player lands on Luxury Tax/Super Tax, he must pay the Bank $75.
If the player lands on Income Tax he must pay the Bank $200 or 10% of his assets. The player must decide which to pay before totalling his assests. (The 10% option is not available on the British board.)
If the player lands on or passes Go he receives $200 from the bank, unless he is going to Jail. (Some house rules award a player more for landing exactly on Go.)
If the player lands on Jail he is "Just Visiting" and does nothing. No penalty applies. However, if a player is directed to go to Jail by a card, or from having landed on the Go To Jail square, or by virtue of having rolled doubles three times consecutively, he lands in the Jail proper. A player in the Jail proper can get out by paying a $50 fine, using a "get out of jail free" card, or by rolling doubles. If a player refuses to pay the fine and fails to roll doubles, he loses his turn. If a player in Jail refuses to pay the fine three consecutive turns, and each turn fails to roll doubles, the $50 fine is assessed anyway, and he moves the number of pips on his last unsuccessful roll.
If the player lands the Go to Jail square, he must move his token to Jail.
If the player lands on Free Parking nothing happens. (Some house rules specify that taxes and fines are paid into the middle of the board rather than to the bank, and that a player landing on Free Parking collects whatever money is in the middle of the board. This significantly lengthens the game, since money does not exit the game.)

A player who rolls doubles takes another turn after completing the first one. If he rolls doubles again, he takes a third turn after completing the second. If, on the third turn, he rolls doubles again, he does not take that turn, but instead goes directly to Jail.

Properties are arranged in "colour groups" of two or three properties. Once a player owns all properties of a group, she may purchase either one to four houses or one hotel (which is equivalent to five houses) for those properties, which raise the rents that must be paid when other players land on the property. The properties in a color group must be developed evenly, i.e. each house that is built must go on the property in the group with the fewest number of houses on it so far. If the number of houses built on the color group is not evenly divisible, then one or two properties may have one extra house. For example, houses in a group may be distributed (2,3,2) or (0,1,1) or (4,4,3) but not (1,2,3) or (0,4,4).

A hotel may be built on a color group only after all properties in the group have four houses. A player purchases a hotel by paying the price of an additional house, and returning the four houses on that property to the bank in exchange for a hotel. If there are not enough houses in the bank for a player to build four houses on each property before building a hotel, the player may not skip directly to buying a hotel by paying the full price at one go.

If more players decide to build houses at the same time than there are houses in the bank, the houses are auctioned off one at a time to the highest bidder. This rule favors the owners of expensive properties, for which the houses cost more in the first place, because the auction price of a house is not tied to the value of the property on which it will be placed.

Players may also freely make trades amongst themselves, involving cash and/or properties. This is often done to obtain all the properties in a particular color group. In tournament games it is against the rules to loan money or trade anything for future consideration, although both are common in home games. Restricting trade deals to current assets sidesteps the problem of enforcing the terms of a deal at a later date when players may squabble over what the terms were (or simply renege on their promises). Deals involving future consideration would in any case be difficult to enforce short of importing all of contract law into the rules, so it is simplest to ban such deals.

According to some house rules, trading doesn't happen until all properties are owned by someone. At this point, play stops and trading ensues until all players are satisfied, e.g. when everyone owns at least one color group. According to the official rules, however, trades are legal as soon as players have anything to trade, so there is no official trading period, and there is no obligation to trade long enough for anyone's satisfaction.

At any time a player may, to raise cash, return hotels and houses to the bank for half their purchase price. If there are sufficient houses in the bank, hotels may also be "broken down" into a number of houses for the corresponding percentage of their purchase price. For example, hotels in one color group may be replaced by two houses each, and for each hotel thus broken down, the player receives half the cost of three houses. Also, properties with no houses or hotels may be mortgaged for the price listed on the deed. A property does not collect rent while mortgaged and may not be developed. To de-mortgage a property a player must pay "interest" of 10% in addition to the mortgage price.

A player continues playing until he owes the bank or another player more than the amount of cash he can raise and is thus "bankrupted". When a player is bankrupted by a debt to the bank, all of his property is returned to the bank. When a player is bankrupted by a debt to another player, all of the bankrupt player's property is given to his creditor. The winner is the last player left solvent.

Because of the transfer of assets when a player leaves the game, it is tempting for a player on the verge of insolvency to play kingmaker. For example, a player who owes a larger rent than he can pay to a player he detests might say, "You wouldn't trade with me earlier when I needed it, so before I go out, I'm selling everything I own to a different player for one dollar, and that's all you are getting out of me!" To prevent this sort of behavior, it is illegal for a player who has just incurred a debt to sell or trade anything unless he thereby raises enough cash to pay off the debt in full.

Alternatively, a player whose chances of winning have been destroyed by incurring a large debt may be tempted to leave ungracefully by handing everything over intact to his creditor without having been technically bankrupted. This also is forbidden by the rules. Before going bankrupt, a player must tear down all houses and all hotels, and then mortgage all his properties in an attempt to pay off the debt. Thus a player who comes into property by bankrupting someone else never receives anything other than mortgaged and undeveloped property.

The bankruptcy rules are an effort to enforce fair play, but in spite of them there are many ways within the rules by which a losing player can drastically affect the balance of power between the players left in the game.

A slight game varitation would be to only play for a limited amout of time like half an hour and count afterwards the direct money (on hand and trade-in).

Strategy

Monopoly involves a substantial portion of luck, with the roll of the dice determining whether a player gets to own key properties or lands on squares with high rents. Even the initial misfortune of going last is a significant disadvantage, because one is more likely to land on property which has already been purchased, and therefore be forced to pay rent instead of having an opportunity to buy unowned property.

There are however, many strategic decisions which allow skilled players to win more often than the unskilled. The fundamental strategic point is that securing monopolies (i.e. all the properties in a color group) is the way to amass wealth, but monopolies arise more through trade than through chance. In a standard six-player game there is a fair probability that none of the players will be able to purchase all of one color group without trading. If no monopolies emerge by chance, and the players do not trade, it is rare for anyone to be eliminated. The game could last indefinitely, with the $200 for passing Go keeping the poorer players from going bankrupt.

Since monopolies are the key to victory, and monopolies arise by the exchange of property from one player to another, a well-played game of Monopoly is from start to finish a game of trading, negotiation, and diplomacy. Players must be aware of the strategic value of the each property at any particular time, considering who needs it to complete a monopoly and which properties in that group are as yet unowned. As soon as two players between them own all the properties in two color groups, they are likely to make a some sort of bargain whereby each of them obtains a monopoly, because if they are the first to be able to build houses and hotels, they each have a much better chance of winning.

Not only is it critical to trade shrewdly, it is important to be diplomatic. Knowing the exact strategic value of all the properties doesn't help much if the other players won't trade with you because you offended them early in the game. It helps to be a genial sort that others don't mind losing to, rather than someone people go out of their way to thwart. For example, because a losing player can to some extent choose to which surviving player to give his property, someone who has annoyed or offended his opponents may find a strong position come to naught when the game is "given" to another player.

Apart from property trading, the most important strategic decisions involve cash management. There is great pressure to build as much and as soon as possible in order to begin collecting large rents. On the other hand, a player who doesn't have the cash to pay a large rent may be forced to tear down houses, getting only half the invested cash back. It can be as dangerous to build as it is to refrain from building.

Furthermore, holding cash is important when unowned property is landed on and must be auctioned off, as well as important when there is a shortage of houses and the remaining houses are auctioned off. Being cash poor can lead to frustration when another player gets a good deal in an auction in which you can't compete. Also, holding cash allows one to cut favorable deals with a player who is cash poor. For example, a player who would be forced to undevelop his property to pay a large rent might decide to instead sell some other undeveloped property for cash, even though he would normally be reluctant to trade property for anything other than property. If only one player has significant cash reserves, that player has significant negotiating leverage.

Because of the importance of cash, many players treat any ungrouped property they own primarily as a cash source through which they can develop their monopolies. Holding unmortgaged and undeveloped property is rather similar to holding a cash reserve, because mortgaging is realatively inexpensive. To de-mortgage a mortgaged property costs only 10% more than the cash received for mortgaging, whereas to rebuild a house one has torn down costs 100% more than the cash received for tearing it down.

The location of properties is also important. Because of Chance cards and the Jail, different squares have different probabilities of being visited. The most visited square is Illinois, followed by St. Charles, Go, and Reading Railroad. There is also a great difference between the rent/cost of development ratio between different areas. The properties further along on each side are always more lucrative because they earn more from the same development cost. Thus, for example, the Orange are far superior to the Purples. It has been calculated that the worst properties to own are the Dark Greens, and the best are the Orange.

Tactics

Early in the game when many properties are unowned, it is a disadvantage to be in Jail. One should pay the fine and get moving with an eye to landing on unowned property or at least passing Go. Later in the game when properties are highly developed, it is an advantage to be in Jail so as to avoid paying high rents. At that stage it is better to refuse to pay the fine and hope not to roll doubles.
When landing on the Income Tax square, one is not allowed to total one's assets before deciding whether to pay $200 or 10% of one's assets. However, there is a simple rule of thumb that works well in practice. Since one starts with $1500 and collects $200 for passing Go each time, it is generally better to pay 10% until one has passed Go for the third time. Barring exceptionally good or bad fortune, the third time past Go is when a player's assets exceed $2000, and once above $2000 a player is not likely to dip below until late in the game when he has paid some drastic rents and is on the verge of elimination.
The increased rent for houses takes a long time to pay off the initial investment if there are only one or two houses per property. Starting with the third house, rents rise dramatically, and pay off the investment correspondingly faster. If one owns all of two color groups it is much better to put three or four houses on each property in one group (leaving the other undeveloped) than it is to put two houses everywhere. Similarly, it is unwise to deeply mortgage oneself to develop a monopoly unless one can build to at least the third house.
If there is a shortage of houses, one should consider buying up the last houses rather than buying hotels, because each hotel one builds returns four houses to the bank for other players to use. When there are no houses in the bank, no one else can build houses. More importantly, no one can build hotels unless they already have four houses on each property of a color group. The owners of inexpensive monopolies should be particularly eager to use this tactic to prevent the owners of expensive monopolies from fully developing.
Occasionally when there is a housing shortage it can pay to tear down one's own houses on one color group in order to immediately build them on a different color group. However, if another player declares an interest in buying the houses you have torn down, you will have to outbid him for them, so this tactic pays off only when you are buying the torn down houses for expensive properties anyway, you are flush with cash, and the other likely bidders are cash poor.

External links

The official Monopoly web site: http://www.monopoly.com
The Anti-Monopoly web site: http://www.antimonopoly.com/
Monopd: http://unixcode.org/monopd/
Atlantik (Monopd client): http://unixcode.org/atlantik/
gtkAtlantic (Monopd client): http://gtkatlantic.sourceforge.net
Probabilities in the Game of Monopoly, http://www.tkcs-collins.com/truman/monopoly/monopoly.shtml

Paper

Monopoly as a Markov Process, by R. Ash and R. Bishop, Mathematics Magazine, vol. 45 (1972) p. 26-29.

Synonyms within Context: Monopoly

Modern Usage: Monopoly

Commercial Usage: Monopoly

Domain	Title
Books	Monopoly Television: Mtv's Quest to Control the Music (Critical Studies in Communication and in the Cultural Industries) (reference) Monopoly Tycoon: Prima's Official Strategy Guide (reference) Natural Monopoly and Its Regulation (reference) Neither socialism nor monopoly : Theodore Roosevelt and the decision to regulate the railroads (reference) The Media Monopoly 6th Edition (reference) (more book examples)

Periodicals	Monopoly & Poverty Review (reference) (more periodical examples)

Theater & Movies	Monopoly (reference) Phenomenon - The Lost Archives - Monopoly Men (reference) Phenomenon:Lost Archives Monopoly Men (reference) (more DVD examples; more video examples)

High Tech	Monopoly (Jewel Case) (reference) Monopoly Party (reference) (more camera examples; more video game examples; more computer examples; more electronic examples; more software examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Image Slideshow: Monopoly

Photo Album: Monopoly

Familiar Quotations: Monopoly

Historic Usage: Monopoly

Use in Literature: Monopoly

Non-Fiction Usage: Monopoly

Subject	Topic	Quote
Business		The sector is beginning to open up though and VNPT monopoly has begun to change. (references)
		Before the country's independence, the telecommunication sector was a state monopoly. (references)
		It has a monopoly on the provision of all telecommunications services except cellular. (references)
Children	Burma	In response to government neglect, private institutions have begun to provide assistance in education, despite an official monopoly on education. (references)
Civil Liberties	India	AM radio broadcasting remains a government monopoly. (references)
	Austria	This market concentration led to complaints of a print media monopoly. (references)
Economic History	Austria	Television is a state monopoly in Austria. (references)
	France	The supply and production of gas (GDF) is still a monopoly. (references)
	Pakistan	The company enjoys a monopoly on service until December 31, 2002. (references)
Human Rights	Slovak Republic	Ducky was killed in the lobby of his apartment building a week after the authorities filed charges against him for financial mismanagement and illegal property transfers while at the gas monopoly. (references)
Political Economy	EGYPT	Telecom Egypt is the nation's fixed-line monopoly. (references)
	ALGERIA	The year 2002 should see the end of this monopoly. (references)
Political Rights	Tajikistan	President Rahmonov exercised a virtual monopoly over mass media access, and there were obvious irregularities in the operation of polling places, such as multiple voting by pro-Rahmonov supporters. (references)
	Antigua and Barbuda	Except for a period in opposition from 1971-76, the Antigua Labour Party has held power continuously since 1951. The opposition has charged that the ALP's longstanding monopoly on patronage and its influence over access to economic opportunities make it extremely difficult for opposition parties to attract membership and financial support. (references)
Trade	Burma	MEHL appears to have a monopoly of these permits. (references)
Travel	Chad	Soteltchad has a monopoly on international and local telephone services as well as Internet service. (references)
	Greece	Delta added a new direct flight from Atlanta to Athens in June 1999. Olympic Airways, the government-owned national carrier, no longer enjoys its full monopoly. (references)
Worker Rights	Poland	The State, their monopoly employer, offered a 12 percent raise. (references)
Lexicography	Devil's Dictionary	FREEDOM, n. Exemption from the stress of authority in a beggarly half dozen of restraint's infinite multitude of methods. A political condition that every nation supposes itself to enjoy in virtual monopoly. Liberty. The distinction between freedom and liberty is not accurately known; naturalists have never been able to find a living specimen of either. Freedom, as every schoolboy knows, Once shrieked as Kosciusko fell; On every wind, indeed, that blows I hear her yell. She screams whenever monarchs meet, And parliaments as well, To bind the chains about her feet And toll her knell. And when the sovereign people cast The votes they cannot spell, Upon the pestilential blast Her clamors swell. For all to whom the power's given To sway or to compel, Among themselves apportion Heaven And give her Hell. Blary O'Gary
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Speeches: Monopoly

Usage Frequency: Monopoly

Expressions: Monopoly

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Monopoly

Modern Translation: Monopoly

Language		Translations for "monopoly"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Afrikaans		alleenverkoop, alleenhandel. (various references)

Albanian		monopoli. (various references)

Arabic		‏سلعة محتكرة, ‏إحتكار مطلق. (various references)

Bulgarian		монопол (patent). (various references)

Chinese		独� (Monopolies), 壟斷販賣 . (various references)

Czech		monopol. (various references)

Danish		monopol. (various references)

Dutch		monopolie, alleenhandel. (various references)

Esperanto		monopolo. (various references)

Farsi		کالای انحصاری , امتیازانحصاری (Concession), انحصار. (various references)

Finnish		monopoli. (various references)

French		monopole. (various references)

Frisian		monopoalje. (various references)

German		Monopol, Alleinverkauf. (various references)

Greek		μονοπώλιο. (various references)

Hebrew		מו� ופול, זכות יחו�"ית, �"שתלטות �'מור�". (various references)

Hungarian		monopólium, egyedáruság. (various references)

Italian		monopolio. (various references)

Japanese Kanji		独� . (various references)

Japanese Katakana		モノポリー , モノポール , ひとりじめ, どくせ�" (a poison gland), せ�"ぎょう (low or mean occupation, principal occupation, special occupation, specialty), せ�"ばい (thousand-fold), せ�"ゆうけ�" (exclusive right, right of exclusive possession), せ�"ゆう (comrade in arms, exclusive possession, exclusive possession or rights, war buddy), ろう� �". (various references)

Korean		� �매권 (Monopolies). (various references)

Manx		milley margee, greim margee. (various references)

Pig Latin		onopolymay

Portuguese		monopólio (combine). (various references)

Romanian		monopol. (various references)

Russian		монополия. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		monopolisanje, monopol. (various references)

Spanish		monopolio (trust). (various references)

Swedish		monopol (monopole source, omnidirectional source). (various references)

Turkish		tekel. (various references)

Ukrainian		монополія. (various references)

Vietnamese		vật độc chiếm tư bản độc quyền, độc quyền. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Ancestral Language Translations: Monopoly

Derivations & Misspellings: Monopoly

Rhyming with "Monopoly"

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "monopoly" (pronounced munÄ"pulē)
5	-Ä" p u l ē	oligopoly, sloppily.
4	-p u l ē	happily, municipally, sleepily, Tripoli, unhappily.
3	-u l ē	abnormally, abysmally, accidentally, actually, additionally, agriculturally, anecdotally, anencephaly, angrily, annually, anomaly, arbitrarily, architecturally, artfully, artificially, beneficially, bilaterally, blissfully, bodily, botanically, broccoli, brutally, busily, carefully, casually, centrally, cerebrally, cheerfully, chronically, Cicely, circumstantially, civilly, clinically, clumsily, coincidentally, comically, commercially, conceptually, conditionally, confidentially, congressionally, conspiratorially, constitutionally, continentally, continually, contractually, contradictorily, conventionally, cordially, crazily, criminally, critically, culturally, customarily, cynically, delightfully, developmentally, diagonally, diametrically, digitally, dismally, diurnally, dorsally, dreadfully, dutifully, easily, editorially, educationally, eerily, electrically, electronically, emotionally, empirically, environmentally, equally, essentially, eternally, ethically, eventually, exceptionally, experimentally, exponentially, externally, extraordinarily, facsimile, factually, faithfully, family, fanatically, fatally, federally, finally, financially, fiscally, fitfully, florally, forcefully, formally, fractionally, frantically, frightfully, frugally, functionally, fundamentally, gainfully, generally, generationally, geographically, giggly, gleefully, globally, gloomily, governmentally, gracefully, gradually, gratefully, gravelly, gravitationally, greedily, habitually, handily, hastily, haughtily, heartily, heavily, helpfully, hermetically, historically, homily, hopefully, horizontally, hungrily, icily, illegally, impartially, incidentally, incrementally, individually, industrially, informally, initially, institutionally, intellectually, intentionally, internally, internationally, intrinsically, involuntarily, irrationally, jauntily, journalistically, joyfully, judicially, lawfully, lazily, legally, liberally, literally, locally, loyally, luckily, magically, magnetically, majestically, manfully, manually, marginally, masterfully, materially, mathematically, meaningfully, medicinally, mentally, mercifully, merrily, methodically, metrically, mightily, militarily, mineralogically, minimally, momentarily, monetarily, monumentally, morally, mortally, multifamily, multilaterally, mutually, nasally, nationally, nattily, naturally, necessarily, noisily, nominally, normally, novelly, nutritionally, occasionally, officially, operationally, optimistically, orally, orchestrally, ordinarily, originally, painfully, parenthetically, partially, pathetically, peacefully, perennially, periodically, peripherally, perpetually, personally, phenomenally, philosophically, physically, pitifully, playfully, politically, potentially, pragmatically, preferentially, preliminarily, presidentially, primarily, procedurally, professionally, proportionally, provincially, provisionally, purposefully, quintessentially, racially, radially, rationally, readily, regally, regionally, regretfully, respectfully, rightfully, ritualistically, romantically, royally, ruefully, sardonically, satisfactorily, scantily, scientifically, seasonally, secondarily, semiannually, sequentially, serenely, severally, sexually, skeptically, skillfully, socially, specially, speedily, spiritually, statistically, statutorily, steadily, steamily, structurally, subfamily, subliminally, substantially, subtly, successfully, summarily, supremely, surgically, symbolically, sympathetically, tactfully, tactically, tangentially, tastefully, tearfully, technically, technologically, temperamentally, temporally, temporarily, terminally, territorially, testily, thankfully, theatrically, theoretically, therapeutically, thoughtfully, totally, traditionally, truthfully, uncannily, unconditionally, unconstitutionally, uncritically, uneasily, unequivocally, unilaterally, unintentionally, universally, unlawfully, unnaturally, unnecessarily, unofficially, unsuccessfully, unusually, usefully, usually, virtually, viscerally, visually, vitally, vocally, voluntarily, warily, wearily, wiggly, wilfully, willfully, wishfully, wistfully, wittily, wobbly, woefully, wonderfully, wrongfully.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Domain	Definition
19th Century Satire	A modern device for impoverishing others. From Grk. monux, swift-footed, and polloi, the people. A swift kick for the people. Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904.
Energy	The only seller with controlover market sales. (references)
Finance	Control of the supply, distribution and/or price of a commodity acquired by ownership, franchise or government patent. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Amusement	Chess, draughts, checkers, checquers, backgammon, dominos, merelles, nine men's morris, go bang, solitaire; game of fox and goose; monopoly; loto;
Possession	Exclusive possession, impropriation, monopoly, retention; prepossession, preoccupancy; nine points of the law; corner, usucaption.
Restraint	Limitation, restriction, protection, monopoly; prohibition.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	John Bull's fish monopoly. Credit: Library of Congress.		The Cerebrus of monopoly. Credit: Library of Congress.
	College athletes have no monopoly --. Credit: Library of Congress.		The Monopoly brothers supported by the little consumer. Credit: Library of Congress.
	If the U.S. monopoly capitalist block continues to pursue its policy of aggression and war, there will come a day when it will be strangled by the people of the world. The other accomplices of the U.S. will meet the same fate. Credit: Library of Congress.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Author	Quotation
Author Unknown	No age has a monopoly on success. Any age is the right age to start doing!
Daniel Webster	The right of an inventor to his invention is no monopoly; in any other sense than a man's house is a monopoly.
Friedrich Engels	What the proletarian needs, he can obtain only from the bourgeoisie, which is protected in its monopoly by the power of the State. . .
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Author	Date	Quotation
Communist Manifesto	1848	Centralisation of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly. (reference)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

List of Marketing Topics	List of Management Topics
List of Economics Topics	List of Accounting Topics
List of Finance Topics	List of Economists

Speaker	Term	Phrase(s)
James Madison	1809-1817	In his pride of maritime dominion and in his thirst of commercial monopoly he strikes with peculiar animosity at the progress of our navigation and of our manufactures.
Andrew Jackson	1829-1837	Every monopoly and all exclusive privileges are granted at the expense of the public, which ought to receive a fair equivalent.
Harry S. Truman	1945-1953	Monopoly, not being subject to competitive pressure, is slow to take advantage of technical advances which would lower prices or improve quality.
Ronald Reagan	1981-1989	Had that nuclear monopoly been in the hands of the Communist world, the map of Europe--indeed, the world--would look very different today.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	100%	1,641	5,073

Expressions using "monopoly": buyer's monopoly ♦ discriminating monopoly ♦ foreign trade monopoly ♦ government monopoly ♦ monopoly board ♦ monopoly position ♦ state monopoly. Additional references.
Hyphenated Usage
	Beginning with "monopoly": monopoly-money, monopoly-ridden.
	Ending with "monopoly": anti-monopoly, near-monopoly, non-monopoly, quasi-monopoly.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Expression	Frequency per Day	Expression	Frequency per Day
monopoly	4,910	microsoft monopoly	81
monopoly online	887	monopoly money	65
monopoly game	526	free monopoly online play	64
play monopoly online	375	downloads free monopoly	56
monopoly tycoon	369	monopoly board	54
3 monopoly	320	free monopoly play	50
monopoly download	292	download game monopoly	50
play monopoly	234	monopoly trainer tycoon	43
monopoly casino	214	free monopoly game download	42
download free monopoly	207	monopoly star war	41
cheat monopoly tycoon	186	3 monopoly serial	39
free monopoly	175	monopoly board game download	33
monopoly rule	147	free ware monopoly	31
play video game monopoly online	136	monopoly twisted	31
monopoly game online	133	simpsons monopoly	30
monopoly board game	126	download monopoly tycoon	29
free monopoly online	123	monopoly strategy	29
free game monopoly online	108	game monopoly rule	28
free monopoly game	107	cheat monopoly	28
monopoly downloads	85	3 download monopoly	27
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Language	Period	Translations
Greek	700 BCE-300 CE	monopolion. (various references)
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	monopolium. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Derivations
	Words ending with "monopoly": antimonopoly. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Monopoly" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: momopoly, monobuoy, monolopy, monoploy, monoply, monopoiy, Monopol, monopolo, monpoly, monpopoly. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "l-m-n-o-o-o-p-y"
	-3 letters: loony, loopy, moony, pylon.
	-4 letters: loom, loon, loop, moly, mono, mony, mool, moon, mopy, nolo, only, ploy, polo, poly, pony, pool, poon.
	-5 letters: loo, lop, mol, mon, moo, mop, nom, noo, ply, pol, pom, yom, yon.
	Words containing the letters "l-m-n-o-o-o-p-y"
	+3 letters: polyonymous.
	+4 letters: antimonopoly, monopodially.
	+5 letters: phenomenology.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Monopoly

Definition: Monopoly

Monopoly

Noun

Specialty Definition: Monopoly

Specialty Definition: Monopoly

List of Marketing TopicsList of Management TopicsList of Economics TopicsList of Accounting TopicsList of Finance TopicsList of Economists

Monopoly (game)

Paper

Synonyms within Context: Monopoly

Amusement

Possession

Restraint

Crosswords: Monopoly

Modern Usage: Monopoly

Screenplays

Commercial Usage: Monopoly

Books

Periodicals

Theater & Movies

High Tech

Image Slideshow: Monopoly

Photos:Monopoly

Photo Album: Monopoly

Familiar Quotations: Monopoly

Author Unknown

Daniel Webster

Friedrich Engels

Historic Usage: Monopoly

Communist Manifesto

Use in Literature: Monopoly

Sylvie and Bruno Concluded

Carroll, Lewis

Non-Fiction Usage: Monopoly

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

Speeches: Monopoly

James Madison

Andrew Jackson

Harry S. Truman

Ronald Reagan

Usage Frequency: Monopoly

Expressions: Monopoly

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Monopoly

Modern Translation: Monopoly

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Greek

Hebrew

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Japanese Kanji

Japanese Katakana

Korean

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Romanian

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Serbo-Croatian

Spanish

Swedish

Turkish

List of Marketing Topics List of Management Topics
List of Economics Topics List of Accounting Topics
List of Finance Topics List of Economists

Photos:
Monopoly