what is a monopolist 
a monopolist is an individual group or company that controls all of the market for a particular good or service a monopolist probably also believes in policies that favor monopolies since it gives them greater power a monopolist has little incentive to improve their product because customers have no alternatives instead their motivation is focused on protecting the monopoly understanding monopolistsmonopolies exist when a monopolist becomes the only supplier of a particular product or service this is different from a monopsony which refers to a single entity s sole power to purchase a good or service it is also different from an oligopoly which consists of a few sellers dominating a market the hallmark of a monopoly is a lack of economic competition to produce the good or service a lack of viable substitute goods and the possibility of a high monopoly price well above the seller s marginal cost that leads to excessive profit in economics a monopoly is a single seller however according to the law a monopoly only needs to be a business entity that has significant market power enough power to charge overly high prices 2 although monopolies may be big businesses size is not a required characteristic of a monopoly a small business may still have the power to raise prices in a small industry monopolies can be established by a government form organically or form by the merger of formerly independent companies or organizations criticism of monopolistsin many jurisdictions such as the united states there are laws restricting monopolies being the sole or dominant player in a market is often not illegal in itself however certain categories of monopolistic behavior can be considered abusive in a free market and such activities will often attract the monopoly label and legal sanctions to go with it 