Friedman came to see monopoly as persisting only through explicit government support

Evidence

Friedman, contravening Edward Levi’s 1947 contention that monopoly was ubiquitous in the United States, contended that such a depiction of monopoly was fallacious. Friedman suggested that prescriptions to ameliorate the purported monopoly problem were iatrogenic. By contrast to his 1947 worries, Friedman then maintained that monopoly persists only when it receives open support from government—suggesting that the divergence between corporate ownership and control had a nugatory influence on the persistence of monopoly (1951b, 17). Participation in the FMS seemed to have changed Friedman’s mind. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1116

Categorization

• DEFINE: Iatrogenic — here meaning the proposed monopoly remedies themselves create the problem; a useful piece of the neoliberal vocabulary.
• XREF: This is the core state-versus-market monopoly claim that later grounds ‘Capitalism and Freedom’ and Chicago antitrust skepticism. — connects to: A capitalist planned economy was economically viable, blocked only by political will — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 484; Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom evaded engagement with opponents and defined away monopoly — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 794; Monopoly power is not a market flaw but a market-driven outcome — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 281 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Monopoly power is not a market flaw but a market-driven outcome #contradicts (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 281
• Chicago neoliberals reversed course to treat monopoly as benign and rarely present #corroborates (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1120