Juan: JackCuyler: When a state provides a service, and outlaws competition, we are forced to accept and fund the service. That's exactly the same thing the state does when it grants a 'private' monopoly - it outlaws competition (isn't that the definition of monopoly ? Oh well...) If the service is not profitable, taxes will be raised to make up the difference. In the case of 'private' monopolies, the same effect is achieved by regulation.
JackCuyler: When a state provides a service, and outlaws competition, we are forced to accept and fund the service.
If the service is not profitable, taxes will be raised to make up the difference.
It's not necessarily, though. As in my widget and Harry Potter examples, even with a state enforced private monopoly, profits are not necessarily guaranteed. The difference between a state monopoly and a state-enforced private monopoly is that in the latter, the rest of us, while we can't get the service elsewhere, have the option to do without the service altogether.
faber est suae quisque fortunae