A ''de facto'' monopoly is a
monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
that was not created by the government. It is most often used in contrast to
''de jure'' monopoly, which is one that is protected from competition by government action.
In a free market without government intervention this kind of monopoly is theoretically unobtainable for any extended amount of time. A ''de facto'' monopoly is only able to be achieved by providing a far demanded product at all times compared to the competition, and even then there would not be a 100% market share.
See also
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Natural monopoly
A natural monopoly is a monopoly in an industry in which high infrastructural costs and other barriers to entry relative to the size of the market give the largest supplier in an industry, often the first supplier in a market, an overwhelming adv ...
References
Monopoly (economics)
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