98 
POLITICAL ECONOMY 
ever, before taking up the consideration of the 
problem of monopoly in these circumstances 
something must be added to the theory under 
the simpler conditions already explained. 
The question naturally arises as to what 
will be the effect upon price and supply of 
the monopolisation of an industry which used 
to be carried on competitively. The answer 
is that price is certain to rise and supply to 
be reduced if the integration of the industry 
does not bring about any economies in 
production. To suppose otherwise is to 
suppose that for no output can the average 
expenses be less than price, broadly speaking. 
It may be, however, that concentrating the 
control of an industry to the extent which 
renders it a monopoly will have substantial 
effects in reducing, for a time at any rate, the 
average costs of production. In this event 
it is conceivable that the monopoly price 
would be less than the competitive price ; but 
there is a good deal to be said for the view 
that any saving immediately effected in cost 
of production might finally be counteracted, 
or more than counteracted, in consequence 
of the fact that efficiency might be under 
mined when monopoly suppressed the process 
of natural selection (which operates through 
the agency of the survival of the fittest