Why is colluding good in a monopoly?

In a monopoly there is only one firm so collusion is neither necessary nor possible.

I'm not sure it really makes sense - you could say that monopolies aren't much worse than oligopolies (where there are only a few sellers) because in an oligopoly the firms collude and become almost a monopoly as a result? You're going to struggle to find a lot of ways in which a monopoly isn't harmful to markets - you could say that it allows companies to grow larger and benefit from economies of scale (increasing productive efficiency as average costs fall).

Have you ever played the monopoly board game? Those who collude always win.

But in reality, only oligopolies can collude

Thanks so much! In your opinion, do you think that a monopoly can be harmful to markets? I don't know if I should agree with the statement or diagree for my conclusion.

No worries

If the question is just whether a monopoly *can* be harmful then you'll find it much easier to argue that it can.

I'd agree you shouldn't be introducing new things in your conclusion but you should elaborate on something which you think in particular gives one side of the argument an advantage over the other.

No problem! Now quit working on Christmas Day!

Note that, in accordance with the laws of the UK, a company is said to have 'monopoly' power when their market share exceeds 25% - so, technically, you could talk about collusion between monopolies - but would have to clarify that you are not referring to 'true' or natural monopolies - rather ones as defined in law.

So in monopoly power, there is collusion. I've been told that collusion reduces existing competition and makes them a stronger monopoly. But a bad thing about collusion is that consumers are being exploited and reduces their welfare. But it allows them to make supernormal profits. Is this okay to write for a positive?

It is an old example but still works - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7132108.stm

"Supermarket firms Sainsbury's and Asda have admitted that they were part of a dairy price-fixing group that earned about £270m extra from shoppers. The supermarkets, along with a number of dairy firms, have agreed to pay fines totalling some £116m after an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) probe.Cases against Tesco and Morrisons will continue after no deal was struck. The OFT said that in-store prices went up after the collusion, but the amount received by farmers did not increase.However, the firms insist that the farm gate price paid for milk did rise and that they were not ripping off customers.
The OFT said the collusion saw customers being charged 3 pence extra for a pint of milk, 15p extra per quarter-pound of butter and 15p per half-pound of cheese, the watchdog said."

Collusion between monopolies creates a de facto stronger, more influential monopoly - that can more strongly manipulate suppliers as detailed in the above article.

I like it, I'll use that example in there if that's alright. Thank you!

No problem, and Merry Christmas.