Why Is Monopolies Harmful And How Can Regulation Ameliorate These Harmful Effects?

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Equating MC=MR yields an output of Qm and a price of Pm. If the same
industry existed under perfect competition however, the price would be Ppc and
output would be Qpc since under perfect competition P=MC=AR. The price in such a
situation would thus be lower than under monopoly and output would be greater.
Consumers obviously benefit if this is the case since P=MC implies P=Marginal
utility so that consumers are maximising their total utility(Under monopoly P>MC
and therefore arguably, not the optimum).

In the long run under monopoly, supernormal profits persist. Under perfect
competition complete freedom of entry leads to the elimination of these profits
and forces firms to produce at the bottom of the long run average cost curve.
Under monopoly however, there are barriers to entry so as to prevent new firms
from entering the industry and reducing the monopolist's profits to the normal
level. Higher prices and lower output thus continue to persist in the long ...

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