My suspicion is that any asymmetry in the markets which makes it even slightly easier for one participant to make a profit over another is going to have a huge impact on determining which participants survive and which do not. I think this is why there are so many large monopolies today; they've been getting a little extra help; their profit margins have been a little bit bigger and they received a little bit more government contracts (or bailouts) during the economic downturns than their competitors.