Introduction
Mergers often happen in the developing world, with various pros to the agreements. However, mergers tend to limit competition and can allow a market to freely up their prices to whatever they want them to be (due to the limited competition). The New York Time’s article on mergers and their damage to the economy and Scott Mayerowitz’s article on the vertical merger between Marriott and Starwood (both are in the hotel industry) details the dangers of mergers, and there potential to create damaging monopolies , .

Types of Mergers
In order to understand mergers, the types of mergers must be understood. In regards to mergers, there tends to be 3 types: Horizontal mergers, vertical mergers, and conglomerations. Horizontal mergers are mergers that happen when two companies are rivals and offer the same types of services (such as hotels and airlines).

Vertical mergers are mergers that occur when an industry buys a supplier (merging the two together). They both tend to be in the same type of industry, but they are at different points in the entire scheme. These occur with various industries, such as a construction company buying a concrete company (to speed up the start of construction and to potentially reduce costs) or a computer manufacturing business that buys a manufacturer of a critical part (such as a memory board, or a manufacturer of screens).

Conglomerates involve firms or businesses that come together, but have little or nothing to do with each other (as far as what they produce or market). Examples of these range widely, but most merge together to increase the amount of exposure they receive and to increase their consumer base.

No matter what type of merger happens, the potential for a monopoly occurs (as is displayed in both of the main articles, with one calling for regulation of mergers to prevent monopolies, and with the other explaining a merger that has recently occurred and that could eventually turn into a monopoly) , .

Mergers Creating Monopolies
When companies merge together, a monopoly can be made in that industry, which is a threat to consumers and other businesses in that industry. An example of this is the De Beers Company, which owns most of the diamond mines in the world. Via there acquisition of most of the diamond mines, and there mergers with other parts of the diamond supply and marketing line, De Beers has created a monopoly. Because of this, diamonds are more expensive than they should be (they are just pieces of carbon, in reality they are aged pieces of coal).

Monopolies will dominate the market and/or the industry that they are involved in. Because of this, they control the prices and can make it difficult for other companies or businesses to compete in the market, let alone enter it. Monopolies exclude many other competitors from entering the market.

At times however, monopolies are a good thing for a population. A natural monopoly can occur when entrance to an industry is expensive and/or complicated, and the entry of many competitors can drive up overall costs for consumers, which makes the entire market inefficient. In a way, the airline industry could be considered a natural monopoly (as is the case of several airlines merging together in the New York Time’s article), as it is expensive to start up an airline, and having a lot of competitors could hurt the industry and make it very expensive for consumers to partake in airline travel .

That is why governments have worked hard (and, should work harder) to limit company mergers, as mergers can create huge monopolies that increase prices, regardless of the consumer demand, as there are few other competitors to go to to purchase the product or item.

Antitrust Laws
Antitrust laws are made by governments to keep the competition fair in industries and between businesses. This is done so that monopolies have fewer chances of occurring, so that consumers and purchasers have a fairer market to choose from when selecting and buying products or services.

For example, antitrust laws are important in the New York Times article’s discussion, as these laws can (and should) prevent the monopoly of the airline industry (although the competition is getting more scare, with several major airlines merging) . The airlines are a vital part of the transportation system of the United States (allowing more and more places to become connected), and having a monopoly in that industry could make traveling too expensive for some customers, which can hurt the economies in areas that rely on tourism to stay afloat (Hawaii, etc.).

Antitrust laws are also important for the hotel industry (detailed in Scott Mayerowitz’s article on the Marriott and Starwood merger), as this is also important for areas that rely on tourism . With a hotel monopoly in place, fewer people might travel to some areas for work and/or pleasure, and this could cripple the economies in some areas.
Antitrust laws are also important for natural monopolies, as the regulation of these is key, so that consumers are not hindered with unfair prices.

Conclusion
Mergers happen frequently, and the occurrence of mergers has the potential to create monopolies, which are apparent by their exclusion of other competitors and their domination of the prices of the products in their market. While some monopolies are critical for consumers (such as natural monopolies) some can hurt the overall market (such as the De Beer’s diamond monopoly). Antitrust laws help regulate these things and attempt to deter unfair practices from happening.