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These are the best new articles, videos, podcasts, and other resources we have found to teach monopoly. They bring economics to life by showing students real-life examples and current events.
 

News Articles

(Listed from most recent to oldest)

Apple's iPhone is not a monopoly like Windows was a monopoly | TechCrunch (March 21, 2024)
Is Apple a monopoly? The DOJ is arguing that it is, and has violated US antitrust laws. This article argues that Apple’s monopoly isn’t so clear-cut. What do your students think?

AG Weiser busts up anesthesia monopoly at Durango, Denver hospitals | Durango Herald (Feb. 27, 2024)
An anesthesia monopoly covering 5 hospitals in Colorado is ending. After buying up independent anesthesia practices, USAP threatened service termination unless the hospitals raised reimbursement rates.

Epic win: Jury decides Google has illegal monopoly in app store fight | The Verge (Dec. 11, 2023)
Epic Games won its case against Google, with a jury finding that Google maintained an illegal app store monopoly on Android phones.

Apple cuts off Beeper Mini’s access after launch of service that brought iMessage to Android | TechCrunch (Dec. 8, 2023)
Beeper Mini’s service that brought the blue bubble to Android phones has been shut down. Does Apple have a blue bubble monopoly?

How Netflix Ruled as a Natural Monopoly of Home Entertainment by Mail | Monday Morning Economist (Oct. 2, 2023)
This is a great write-up of how economies of scale vaulted Netflix to a mail-order entertainment monopoly, and why streaming competitors aren’t profitable yet.

Amazon & the FTC | Financial Times (Sept. 27, 2023)
An introduction to Lina Khan vs the Chicago school, and why Lina Khan argues investors think Amazon will be a monopoly. High school teachers can get free access through the FT Schools program.

What Google has to prove in the first major antitrust case in decades | Quartz (Sept. 11, 2023)
Google's antitrust case began Sept. 12, with the DOJ looking to show that Google has exerted monopoly power that has stifled competition.

How a Drug Company Made $114 Billion by Gaming the U.S. Patent System | The New York Times (Jan. 28, 2023)
Up to 10 competitors are set to enter the drug market to compete with AbbVie's Humira, who previously used its patents to maintain a monopoly and raise prices on the anti-inflammatory medication.

Beach equipment rental company sues North Myrtle Beach in federal court | WBTW (July 13, 2022)
North Myrtle Beach does not allow companies to sell beach equipment on public beaches. By restricting competition, the city makes millions in revenue from beach rentals every year. Does the city violate antitrust laws?

Meet the four-eyed, eight-tentacled monopoly that is making your glasses so expensive | Forbes (September 10, 2014)
What do LensCrafters, Sunglasses Hut, Target Optical, Rayban, Tiffany eyewear, and Prada eyewear all have in common? The same owner. Seriously.

Videos

Forrest Gump: Praying for shrimp | YouTube
This scene from the movie “Forrest Gump” shows that before the storm there were many shrimp boats which were all the same, and no one was earning a high profit. After a storm attacked the area, all but Forrest Gump’s boat got destroyed, giving him monopoly power in the shrimp market.

Eyeglass monopoly | Adam Ruins Everything (via Economics Media Library)
Warning: adult language We posted an article above about this because we want to make sure everyone learns about this in one media form or another.

Diamond ring monopoly | Adam Ruins Everything (via Economics Media Library)
Warning: adult language Adam successfully ruins the romance around diamond rings, showing that the DeBeers company, with a monopoly on diamonds, artificially restricts the supply to keep prices high and artificially created the tradition of gifting diamond rings to create demand.

Maximizing Profit Under Monopoly | MRU 
Using a very important example of a firm with patent rights over an AIDS drug, Alex Tabarrok explains how a price-making firm makes prices.

Podcasts

Why One Drug Company Held Back a Better Drug | NY Times
Did Gilead Sciences delay the release of an improved medicine to prolong a drug monopoly?

A first-class postal economics primer | NPR
The economics of a government-granted monopoly that struggles to make money.

How the U.S. got into this baby formula mess | NPR Business
Suspected contamination of baby formula led to a recall and a closure of one of the four companies that control about 90% of the infant formula market in the US. This podcast explores what crowds out competition. The following is a related podcast: Economists are weighing in on America’s baby formula shortage (Wbur, May 2022).

Why Printers Are the Worst | Planet Money 
Printers (and razors) are the canonical example of tying but this is tying plus or something.

Hot Dog Hail Mary | Planet Money
Ever wonder why stadium food is so expensive? Wonder no more- Planet Money explains and offers a glimmer of hope to fans everywhere by reporting that the Atlanta Falcons are trying to do something about their overpriced food.

As large hospital systems buy up independent medical practices, the cost of health care rises | Marketplace (September 6, 2017)
Healthcare costs are increasing. At least part of those price increases can be attributed to provider consolidation. In related news, Sutter just settled one antitrust lawsuit but still faces federal antitrust litigation.

Additional Resources

Multiple-Choice Questions | MRU

Monopoly Simulation | Economic-games.com

Local Monopoly and Trade Simulation | Veconlab

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