“It is hardly necessary to point out that competition of the kind we now have in mind acts not only when in being but also when it is merely and ever-present threat. It disciplines before it attacks. The businessman feels himself to be in a competitive situation even if he is alone in his field or if, though not alone, he holds a position that investigating government experts fail to see any effective competition between him and any other firms in the same or a neighboring field and in consequence conclude that his talk, under examination, about his competitive sorrows is all make-believes. In many cases, though not in all, this will in the long run enforce behavior very similar to the perfectly competitive pattern.”
