I distinctly remember reading about some well-known large companies that the free market brought down by itself. However, I do not remember the names. I had a vague memory that it was Sears, but I can't find any references.
Help?
Standard Oil lost significant proportions of the oil market before it was broken up by the government if that helps.
If you cannot remember parts of something how distinct is it?
I cannot even think of a scenario wherethere has ever existed this "free market." Corporations used to be strictly regulated by states, then nation states, and now slowly they are building infrastructure for international organizations to govern them. But, in the past many banks have been taken down by market forces. For instance, Lehman Brothers.
Kodak, due to the popularity of digital cameras. Ironically, digital photography was invented by Kodak to begin with.
The keyboard is mightier than the gun.
Non parit potestas ipsius auctoritatem.
Voluntaryism Forum
Neodoxy - I had already thought of that, but I wanted something more obvious.
Aristophanes - true enough. Yet it appears that in some cases it might be impossible to identify a government cause for the downfall of a company. This doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, that is, but still. Do you think this is a worthless pursuit?
Autolykos - thanks.
Blockbuster and Myspace have lost significant market share due to competition.
No company names, but hopefully this is helpful
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/CreativeDestruction.html
Resources no longer needed to feed the nation have been freed to meet other consumer demands. Over the decades, workers no longer required in agriculture moved to the cities, where they became available to produce other goods and services. They started out in foundries, meatpacking plants, and loading docks in the early days of the Industrial Age. Their grandsons and granddaughters, living in an economy refashioned by creative destruction into the Information Age, are less likely to work in those jobs. They are making computers, movies, and financial decisions and providing a modern economy’s myriad other goods and services (Table 2).
Best Buy is crumbling before our eyes. Circuit City already went down.
The first one that I thought of was Standard Oil, their 90% share had dwindled down to 60% and was dropping when broken up not by Anti-Trust saints but by the first Rosevelt Adminstration that was indebted to the enemy of the Rockefellers: The Rothchilds, but that is just a conspiracy theory.
Also add to the list: GM, Chrysler, Xerox, US Steel, etc.
Ooh, Xerox and US Steel are big ones.
Anyone know something about Sears?
Well, it appears that I was right about Sears:
http://www.csub.edu/kej/documents/economic_rsch/2012-03-19.pdf
The whole British automotive industry. Among cars you have Austin, Morris, Triumph, MG, Talbot, Hillman, Rover and Wolseley. Among motorcycles you have Triumph (the present brand has no affilitiation, they just bought rights to the name), Norton, AJS, BSA, Velocette, Francis Barnett and Chater-Lea. Among engine and component manufacturers you have Pressed Steel (bodywork), J.A. Prestwick (four stroke engines), Rickman (suspensions), Villiers (at one time the largest two stroke engine manufacturer in the world), Lucas (electrics) and Smiths (instrumentations and other automotive components).
Other automotive brands which may be of interest to you are:
Tohatsu. Their motorcycle division couldn't keep up with offering from the Big Four and was shut down in the early '80s.
Bridgestone. They built some superb two stroke motorcycles in the '60s but operations became uneconomical and they shut the division down, concentrating on tyres and chemical products.
Marusho. They built a long line of excellent motorcycles (the Moto Guzzi V7 was almost a straight copy of the Lilac) but made a fatal mistake by trying to get into the scooter business as the market in Japan was in full decline, investing huge capitals. What was left of the company was bought by Honda, which also hired most of their engineers and designers.
Thanks.
I think my list will be Sears, US Steel, Xerox, Eastman Kodak, and IBM. It's the most recognizable to US audiences.
Pan Am, Hostess
EDIT: RIM/Blackberry, Sony, Nokia
A brand US audiences may be familiar with is TWA.
They ignored the Asian market (big money lost), air cargo (bigger money lost) and deregulation on the domestic US market hit them hard as they had ignored that market which, after the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, had grown at an exponential pace.