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. When governments deregulate industries, monopolies disappear, and private sector firms originate and compete for profit.