But perhaps the strongest counterexample is Japan, which, by the 1980s, was considered a serious rival to the United States in technology industries such as computing and online services. But because Japan never broke the power of its telephone monopoly, independent telecommunications and internet firms never really grew, and by the early 2000s the United States had leaped far ahead. There is, after all, only so much you can do when your innovations need to be engineered not to disturb the mother ship.
I think there is a pretty strong counterpoint to be made here that if other companies allow monopolies, it can give them more financial firepower in a global economy to purchase innovative startups. If the US is the only country breaking up monopolies and others are being propped up this could be a problem as firms become more and more global.
