‘Economy Business and Finance’ Archives
Monopsony
Monopsony Monopsony is the “flip side” of monopoly. In monopoly, a firm is the sole seller of product to a group of consumers. Thus, the monopolist faces a downward sloping demand curve for its product. Every unit of output the firm produces reduces the market price for its good. This implies that the more goods the monopolist sells, the [...]
Mixed Economy
Mixed Economy A mixed economy is typically a market system of resource allocation, commerce, and trade in which the government intervenes to disrupt the “invisible hand” of free market forces. Examples of such intervention may include state-owned enterprises (such as public health or education systems), regulations, subsidies, tariffs, and [...]
Patents
Patents A patent is a governmental grant of exclusive control over a new invention—a material, product, or process—for a specific period of time, normally 20 years. A patent is granted as a reward for innovation, usually technical innovation. Recently, in some countries, including the United States, a patent may be granted on a new method [...]
Moral Hazard
Moral Hazard Moral hazard is the risk one party has when dependent on the virtuous, or moral, behavior of others. These risks increase when there is no effective way to control that behavior. To distinguish moral hazard from all cases in which people misbehave, moral hazard problems arise in situations in which two or more parties form an [...]
Trademark Infringement
Trademark Infringement Trademark infringement occurs when products are manufactured or sold under the trademark of another company without that company’s permission. The widespread distribution of counterfeit products—fake purses, knockoff watches, and so on—has turned this into a serious problem. Trademark infringement began about [...]
Counterfeit Goods Exported from China
Counterfeit Goods Exported from China The recent emergence of China as a player in the global economy has exacerbated rampant intellectual property infringement. In addition to the counterfeit goods exported from China (and other parts of Asia) are the fake items sold in China to tourists and to China’s enormous population. China is replete [...]
Price Discrimination Between Customers
Price Discrimination Between Customers Price discrimination between customers appears to violate Aristotle’s conception of justice, which requires that like cases be treated alike and different cases be treated differently. Is it fair that one passenger should pay $1,000 to fly to Hong Kong when the person sitting next to him or her has paid [...]
International Price-Fixing
International Price-Fixing Internationally, price-fixing has been common through the ages. OPEC, for example, is a well-known decadesold cartel of oil-producing nations that sets its production levels cooperatively, with an eye toward keeping oil prices high. OPEC is protected from prosecution under other nations’ antitrust laws, both by the [...]
Right-to-Work Laws
Right-to-Work Laws Within civil society, the right to work frequently has been construed to mean a public policy of full employment. In the United States, this took the weakened form of the Employment Act of 1946, which stopped short of advocating full employment, and the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1974, which aimed at 3% [...]
Questions and Answers About Cars
Questions and Answers About Cars Q: When I am looking at a used car, is there any way to tell if it has been in an accident? A: There sure is. First of all ask the current owner if they know if the car has ever been involved in any accident, minor or major. Many people won’t volunteer this information, but if you ask them point blank they [...]
