Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are markets with no real viable alternative to Walmart, because Walmart used their scale to crush competition, and no has made it uneconomical to start a rival business, since they'll temporarily lower prices below sustainable (using their scale), then raise them again when the other store dies. If Walmart has enough local monopolies, this is a self-reinforcing strategy, since it's unlikely all of the monopolie…
So the thing about a monopoly is it's totally squishy. There isn't a clear line you cross to become one because there is no clean way to define a market. Every customer places a different value on the product itself, the search and transportation cost of buying from alternative retailers, etc. So take Walmart. Do they have a local monopoly? First, question, on what? If you want to buy a television then they almost ce…
It would only take a local wage initiative, for instance, to likely bother the closest Walmart. So there's an inherent incentive not to let prices rise so much that people are angry enough to get the government involved because they can no longer buy milk (or food).