Which term describes control of an industry by a single company?

• A. Monopoly/Trusts
• B. National Markets
• C. Nationalism
• D. Manifest Destiny

Answer: (A)

A single company dominating an entire industry is called a monopoly. When one firm controls the market, it can set prices, limit competition, and influence how much product is produced because there’s no rival to push prices down or demand more innovative offerings. The term often appears with its related idea, a trust, which describes a arrangement where several companies are merged or otherwise consolidated to act as a single entity, further reducing competition. This concept precisely captures the situation of industry control by one winner in the market.

National Markets describes the geographical scope of trade within a country, not who controls it. Nationalism is a political belief in putting the nation’s interests first and often involves pride or sovereignty. Manifest Destiny is the 19th-century belief that U.S. expansion across the continent was justified and inevitable. None of these convey the idea of one firm dominating an industry the way monopoly or trusts do.