"The failure to distinguish between economic power and political power leads people to believe that large corporations have grown through coercion."

"Many people distrust Big Business: Big Tech, Big Pharma. Big Oil, even Big Grocers – any large corporations. They believe these companies have grown big by exploitation and coercion that they are able to perpetuate due their sheer size. Therefore, these people think the government should control these companies’ size to ensure 'fair competition' and to prevent monopolies. [The reaction to the recent discussions about supermarket 'monopolies' is an example] .... [C]ommentators relish the prospect that using (non-objective) ... laws, the government could cut [supermarket chains] to size ...
    "Those distrustful of Big Business fear that large corporations grow too 'powerful” and therefore can coerce and control us to do business with them, to buy their products and services, and to prevent us from competing with them. However, that fear is misplaced. Corporations, small or large, in free and semi-free countries (absent government intervention) don’t have the power to coerce. They cannot prevent anyone from acting or to force them to act against their will.
    "As Ayn Rand has observed, the only power business has is economic power: the power to produce and trade, which depends on its ability to obtain the voluntary co-operation of others through persuasion. ... Only the government possesses political power: the power to use physical force, or the threat of it, to restrain and punish those who initiate it.
    "The failure to distinguish between economic power and political power leads people to believe that large corporations have grown through coercion. ...
    "[A]bsent government favours and protectionism, companies grow large because they act morally. It means that they are productive: they continually develop and produce [and sell] goods and services that customers value. ... Only with the government’s help – protectionism and cronyism [and the RMA] – could [supermarket chains] coerce: to prevent competition from entering its markets, charge artificially high prices, sell subpar products, and to provide lousy customer service. ...
    "Instead of condemning Big Business, we should appreciate large corporations for producing the material values we need and want.
    "But we should condemn the government for initiating force to interfere in markets."

~ Jana Woiceshyn from her post 'In Defence of Big Business'

UPDATE: Why is there a "cosy duopoly" of Big Grocers here in New Zealand? Simple: the bureaucratic costs for new competitors to enter our distant market are too damn high, making a significant barrier to entry. (Call it bureaucratic drag.) Eric Crampton excerpts 

"a Jaw-dropping bit "from the Grocery Regulator on this, in interview at Interest.co.nz:

" 'What we've been told by these players is when they come and they want to open up a large store in New Zealand, the cost to get a spade in the ground is double that of Australia,” he says in a new episode of the Of Interest podcast. 

  " 'Now that is significant. And when they look at 'do we open up a store in Wagga Wagga or Tamworth or wherever in Australia' versus coming to open up in Auckland where there is massive demand or any of the other centres, really, the cost is double that of Australia. And the timeframe often is more than double as well. So when they do their business cases, they look at that and say, 'well, we're going to be better off by going elsewhere rather than here.' Now the government is saying that they're going to change things to make New Zealand more competitive for international players. And that's really what we're looking at.'
    "The Commerce Commission released its first annual grocery report on Wednesday which revealed ComCom’s efforts to boost grocery competition over the past year hasn’t had much impact'."

Later in the podcast, he says that Costco would already have expanded to more places in NZ if expanding in NZ weren't so freaking hard.
    It shouldn't be surprising that the grocery regulator hasn't chalked any wins as yet. The real problem is largely out of the regulator's hands: RMA, Overseas Investment Act, Council processes.

The emphasis there is mine. Eric's post has more detail on council clusterfucks.