Itisonlyonafootingofmonopolythatthisgrindingdepressioncanbedefinitivelysetaside。Butthemonopolyneednotbeabsoluteinordertoaffordasomewhatenduringrelief。
Whatisnecessaryisthatthemonopolyshouldcomprehendallbutanegligiblefractionofthebusinessconcernsandtheequipmentengagedinthefieldwithinwhichcompetitionhaskeptprofitsbelowareasonablelevel。Whatisanegligiblequantityinsuchacaseisnottobedeterminedongeneralconsiderations，sinceitdependsineachcaseoncircumstancesaffectingtheparticularindustry。But，inageneralway，themorenearlycompletethemonopoly，themoreeffectuallyisitlikelytoserveitspurpose，44*
Suchbusinesscoalitionshavetheeffectofbringingprofitstoareasonablelevel，notonlybymakingitpossibletoregulateoutputandprices，butalsobytheeconomieswhicharemadepracticableonthisfooting。Coalitionsofalesscomprehensivecharacter，asspokenofabove，alsoeffecteconomiesinthecostofproduction。Butthelargercoalitionswhichbringthebusinesstoamonopolybasishavenotonlytheadvantagewhichcomesofthelarge-scaleorganizationoftheindustrialprocess，buttheyalsoenjoypeculiaradvantagesinthematterofcost，duetotheirmonopolyposition。Theseaddedadvantagesaremoreparticularlyadvantagesinbuyingorbargainingforallgoods，materials，andservicesrequired，aswellasinsellingtheoutput。Solongasthecoalitionsarenotcomprehensiveenougheffectuallytoeliminatecompetition，theyareconstrainedtobothbuyandsellincompetitionwithothers。Butwhenthecoalitioncomeseffectuallytocoveritsspecialfieldofoperation，itisable，notonlytofixthepriceswhichitwillacceptonthebasisofwhatthetrafficwillbear，butalsoinaconsiderablemeasuretofixthepricesorrateswhichitwillpayformaterials，labor，andotherservicessuchastransportationonasimilarbasis，-unlessitshouldnecessarilyhavetodowithanothercoalitionthatisinasimilarpositionofmonopoly。
Therulewhichgovernsthefixingofratesonthissideofthebusinessdealingsofamonopolisticcoalitionissimilartothatwhichguidesitstransactionsinthematterofsales。Pricesandrates，as，e。g。，formaterialsandlabor，arenotdepressedtothelowestpossiblepoint，buttothelowestpracticablepoint，-tothepointcompatiblewiththelargestnetprofits。
Thismayormaynotbeapointbelowtheratesnecessaryunderaregimeofcompetitivebuying。Itmaybeaddedthatonlyinrarecasesdoesacoalitionattainsostrongapositioninrespectofitspurchasesofmaterialsorservicesastoliftthissideofitsbusinessentirelyabovethereachofcompetition。45*