This means that once the transfer agents at the bank medallion stamp the bond, it is highly liquid on the second market. Thus, a bond is a form of loan or IOU: the holder of the bond is the lender (creditor), the issuer of the bond is the borrower (debtor), and the coupon is the interest. Bonds provide the borrower with external funds to finance long-term investments, or, in the case of government bonds, to finance current expenditure.
Chamberlainâs monopolistic competition is the blending of competition and monopoly. The most distinguishing feature of monopolistic competition is that the products of various firms are not identical but different although they are close substitutes for each other.
A natural monopoly is a monopoly that can arise when there are very high fixed costs or barriers to entry in getting started in an industry or delivering a product or service. Although the courts and government usually discourage monopolies, there are instances when society and consumers are better off with only one company.