Businesses become critically dependent on platforms for even a small fraction of their revenue (e.g., 20%). This 'monopsony power' creates a stronger lock-in than user network effects, as losing that customer base can bankrupt the business.

Facing public outrage, Mylan offered a "generic" EpiPen at half price. However, due to convoluted drug pricing economics, this move quelled the controversy while allowing the company to earn nearly the same amount of profit per device. It exposed the illusion of consumer savings in a broken system.

When governments become top shareholders, corporate focus shifts from pleasing customers to securing political favor and appropriations. R&D budgets are reallocated to lobbying, and market competition devolves from building the best product to playing the policy game most effectively, strangling innovation.

A company's monopoly power can be measured not just by its pricing power, but by the 'noneconomic costs' it imposes on society. Dominant platforms can ignore negative externalities, like their product's impact on teen mental health, because their market position insulates them from accountability and user churn.

Pricing power allows a brand to raise prices without losing customers, effectively fighting the economic principle that demand falls as price rises. This is achieved by creating a brand perception so strong that consumers believe there is no viable substitute.

While patents are important, a pharmaceutical giant's most durable competitive advantage is its ability to navigate complex global regulatory systems. This 'regulatory know-how' is a massive barrier to entry that startups cannot easily replicate, forcing them into acquisition by incumbents.

Leading AI companies allegedly stoke fears of existential risk not for safety, but as a deliberate strategy to achieve regulatory capture. By promoting scary narratives, they advocate for complex pre-approval systems that would create insurmountable barriers for new startups, cementing their own market dominance.

Laws intended for copyright, like the DMCA's anti-circumvention clause, are weaponized by platforms. They make it a felony to create software that modifies an app's behavior (e.g., an ad-blocker), preventing competition and user choice.

The binding nature of 'early decision' programs prevents accepted students from leveraging competing financial aid offers. This tactic, combined with universities raising prices in lockstep, effectively creates a cartel that maintains total pricing power over families.