A monopoly is a market with little or no competition, there’s one main supplier (with at least 33% of the market) that is a lot more powerful compared to the others. This market has no substitutes products, and the company has control over the market price and production.

Monopolies are very common in the most capital-intensive industries, where it’s very hard for someone new, to compete with the others in price and capacity e.g., railroads.

Staes also create and give legal or granted monopolies, often incentive innovation,  incentive in risky ventures, or meet a large domestic interest group. Patents, copyrights, and trademarks benefits are sometimes used as examples of government-granted monopolies.