Economists also understood that a market can fail when it’s dominated by just a few firms or by a single firm (a monopoly). At the start of the twentieth century, a giant company, Standard Oil, controlled most of America’s oil market and the United States Steel Corporation controlled most of steel. Because a monopolist has no competitors it can choose how much to charge for its good: it has ‘market power’. The monopolist tends to push up the price to increase profits; the higher price means consumers buy less and so the firm produces less. This hurts society as a whole because consumers would like more and cheaper goods; however, the monopolist decides how much to produce only on the basis of its own profits. In a competitive market with lots of firms a greater amount of goods get made and sold at a lower price. This is why most economists think that competitive markets are better for society than monopolies.