Political Trends Unit 1 Social Trends Unit 1 Overview Economic Trends 1. Deregulation and Privatization Deregulation is the process of breaking up monopolies and allowing for free-market competition.
Privatization is the process of converting ownership from the public sector into the private sector.
Privatization includes the process of selling state-owned enterprises to private investors. There is little or no opportunity for entrepreneurial individuals to participate in ownership of a firm to realize a profit. A monopoly is an environment or an industry where a single producer designs and markets a product or a service. Monopolies are characterized by a lack of competition among producers in the industry. Where monopolies exist, the market forces of supply and demand are either not present or greatly minimized.