Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Oligopolies in the news

1) Infant formula: apparently the FTC is already investigating

2) Group Purchasing Organizations, intermediaries between drug manufacturers and hospitals. A quote: "Group purchasing organizations control more than $250 billion in hospital purchases annually.  The biggest three account for about 90% of the business.... If you refuse to sell through a group purchasing organization, or through drug wholesalers, you will not exist."

3) Ice cream cones

4) Florida Power & Light is ostensibly regulated by the Public Service Commission, but several commentators described their activity as "monopoly-like" with the PSC being little more than a "rubber stamp." 

5) I know I'm late to notice this, but Binyamin Appelbaum of the NY Times frequently posts on the anti-monopoly beat. He argues that consumers suffer, as in the case of chicken; that meatpacking represents monopoly gone bad; and that downward pressure on wages is one of monopoly's many sins. A recent piece (posted 6/1) is on the role of the judiciary in fighting monopoly.

6) An analysis of profit margins was just posted online at the Roosevelt Institute. One co-author is the "Director, Corporate Power" so you can kind of guess where the paper comes down, but the findings seem pretty damning. I can't imagine that market power explains a large share of inflation, but the extent of its complicity is not clear.

7) A monopoly is when there is only one seller. When there's only one buyer, it's called a "monopsony," but it can lead to the same type of outcome. Case in point: a new publication in the American Economic Review, which finds that a business owner is able to avoid paying people what they're worth. If there is only one employer, then anyone who wants a job has to apply there and take whatever pay is available. These researchers find that this is indeed the case... basically every employer has that power, as there is never enough competition for workers.

8) Uber & Lyft: while it seems like their business model is struggling, for a long time they've been the only game in town, partly because they have given up the chance to be profitable in favor of holding that leading spot. 

Friday, May 20, 2022

Resource Economics videos, Spring 2022

The semester is pretty much over and summer is on our doorstep. Thank goodness!

Thanks to my class for an engaging semester: I hope you enjoyed it. This semester I allowed people to choose whether they wanted to write a paper or make a movie. Both required an interview, and next time I will impose a penalty for those submitting papers. My goal is to have informative but engaging pieces that draw from a variety of sources, some of which are peer reviewed. Here are the class productions for Spring of 2022.

Costs and benefits of tourism in Bali

Wasteland 

Effects of livestock production on the Chesapeake

Benefits of composting 

Benefits of recycling

Impact of varroa mites on bees and beekeepers