Monopoly Can Be Meaningfully Defined Only As a Grant of Privilege by the State

[Rothbard] expounds a completely new theory of monopoly—that monopoly can be meaningfully defined only as a grant of privilege by the State, and that a monopoly price can be attained only from such a grant. In short, there can be no monopoly or monopoly price on the free market.

--Murray N. Rothbard, preface to revised edition of Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market, 2nd ed. (Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2009), lvii.