βIt 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.β
β Joseph A. Schumpeter*
