But it s not predation for a firm to offer consumers better deals. A firm is not a predator if the advantage it wins over its rivals results from voluntary consumer choices. None of this denies that each firm wants to be a monopolist. But desiring monopoly power is not akin to acquiring monopoly power. A chief justification for free-market competition is that by seeking maximum profit, firms yield benefits as if by an invisible hand not only to their owners, but also to their suppliers and consumers.
Competition is supposed to encourage firms to compete for consumers.
It is theoretically possible that Acme Corporation today offers deals so attractive to consumers that its rivals soon are bankrupted and, as a result, Acme tomorrow charges monopoly prices. But this possibility hardly justifies government policing against low prices. First, this possibility is too remote. Not only does the historical record contain scant evidence of predatory pricing, but even successful predators cannot count on their monopoly power lasting. That firm has no special cost or quality advantages.