ness will here be regarded, therefore, not only as a property possessed to a greater or lesser degree by all (conscious or unconscious) mental processes, but as the basis of man’s capacity to move successfully in a world very imperfectly known to him – an adaptation to his ignorance of most of the particular facts of his surroundings. (Hayek 1973:30; emphasis added) Entrepreneurs must formulate...

This study primarily establishes two things: (1) that monopoly has been pervasive in the U.S. water transportation industry in both the 19th and 20th centuries and has led to prices above competitive levels and the adoption of inefficient technologies and (2) that the competition of railroads has greatly weakened this monopolistic tendency, leading to lower water transport prices and fewer inef...