Many of those comments that were sent in do not get it.

Transportation had no problems as the rail road developed in the east, there was no monopoly of control of price fixing. That railroad had to compete with other forms of transportation and had to develop on its own.

It was only when the government got involved in order to build the coast to coast system that we started to have problems with rates that farmers could not afford, price fixing... It was the regulation and in particular the land and funds that were provided by the government that produced poor railways and high prices.

Many "Railroad" companies existed just to get some free government ground for a railroad corridor.

The drive for profit would create (like we had in the east) competition which would have eliminated the monopoly of control that was established by the government in the rail expansion to the west. It would have taken a bit longer to happen, but when the railway expansion did happen it would have been by purchasing land for the rails and competition would have driving prices down so that farmers could do more than pay for shipment of their wheat.

Indeed the only thing that can produce a monopoly as we think of it today is government intervention or a company that produces products at far cheaper costs than anyone else and then sells them at a low enough price point that no other competitor is able to get into the market. In the first case (government creates a monopoly by price fixing, regulation or other government market manipulation) we all loose. In the case of a Monopoly because of free-enterprise we all win as the companies effiiciency rewards them with greater proffits and they are forced to sell at a price that will maintain their dominance and keep others from entering the market. We get cheaper prices, and when that monopoly makes a mistake or charges to much, it ceases to be a monopoly as another player will enter the market as the profit is there to do so, driving process up to even better effect and prices down once again.

A true capitalist market has checks and balances that automatically prevent the kind of monopoly we would like to prevent, when government gets involved and picks winners you get companies with bad processes and money loosing ventures that can stay in business even when they have cars like the volt that no one wants.

The correct answer is as complete a separation of state and economy as there is with state and religion

A few people understand, but the rest of the answers were weak.