Market Failure Failure in Competition

Market Failure Failure in Competition Market failure arises in a situation where the outcomes that the market produces are not efficient in meeting the consumers’ needs. Alternatively, it can arise when the market is incapable of meeting the equilibrium. Notably, the market performance depends on the interaction between consumers and produces, government participation, and other externalities.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Market Failure: Failure in Competition specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There are different forms of market failures namely, externalities, existence of public goods, failure of competition, information asymmetry, inequities, and economic recession or swings (Market Failure, n.d.). In this aspect, a detailed analysis of failure in competition is going to be examined. These aspects include in-depth analysis and practicable remedies in the real market. Failure in competition occurs in a market when there is a sole or a few produ cers or buyers of a given commodity. This results in accumulation of disproportionate powers thus, disrupting the normal demand and supply of the given product or service. In this situation, price mechanism that involves interaction of supply and demand curves does not determine the prices (Forms of Market Failure, 2012). For instance, a cartel in the oil industry can decide to package the product at her/his desired quantities for strategic reasons. The cartel does this at will without any influence from the market forces. Another example can be a sole sugar supplier who decides to hoard his/her products then, sells at a time when there is no sugar in the market. Clearly, the supplier will quote his/her own price, as he/she is not controlled by the market pricing mechanisms. Since there is no alternative or substitute to the products, this situation will force consumers to purchase the products far beyond the expected market price. From this aspect, monopoly or absence of competitio n in the market leads to clear market failure. In my opinion, failure in competition in a market will give the suppliers and cartels the opportunity to dictate their own prices, which are not in line with the current market trends (Forms of Market Failure, 2012). On the other front, in a case where there is a sole buyer of a product, it will force the producers to sell their goods far below the real market price. Therefore, failure by the government to intervene and control monopoly in a market, apparently, leads to market failure. Monopoly, if allowed to continue in a market may lead to exploitation of consumers in terms of high pricing, timely deliverance, and low product quality. In a monopolistic market, it is rare for other companies to enter and offer similar services due to the dominance of the other company. For that matter, there should be solutions that can be adopted to minimize the above scenario.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Firms that misuse their monopolistic powers can work under price controls. Here, the government can set up price controls, where the firm/company agrees with the regulator on the maximum possible price they can levy on their products. A real example is the setting up of the Office of Fair Trading by the United Kingdom’s government. This body’s sole mandate is to ensure that the prices of essential goods like water and gas are below the present inflation rate (Monopoly Power, n.d.). The government, therefore, should intervene and set up such bodies to monitor price variation of goods or services from monopolistic firms. Apart from this, the government can acquire some parts of the company; for example, acquire about 50% of the company’s shares. This approach will make the company change tact, even though it will still be the only producer, as it will be under the government’s clo se watch. It also changes the company ownership from full privately owned to partially privately owned company. The government will ensure that the goods or services offered as are not beyond the consumers reach and not exploiting them. Additionally, the government can encourage setting up of smaller firms that offer same services. The government can subsidize the initial cost of starting such firms or reduce the procedures of setting up such firms (Monopoly Power, n.d.). When this happens, decentralization of production occurs thus, creating a competitive market that mainly determines its prices through the forces of demand and supply. For example, the entry of other communication firms in Britain made the British Telecom increase their efficiency and even lower their prices in order to cope up with the current state of competition in the market (Stigler, n.d.). An example of setting up smaller firms can be seen in the Microsoft dominance in providing both the operating systems and the software. The EU is contemplating of splitting the company into two main wings, that is, the software wing and the operating system wing. Conclusively, monopolistic markets come with adverse effects to the consumers; therefore, needs immediate government involvement. However, economists argue that monopoly is of great benefit to the producers, as they get higher returns on their investments than when such scenario was not at hand.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Market Failure: Failure in Competition specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Although the producers make a lot of wealth, there is the moral aspect that is not addressed. Therefore, putting the ethical aspects in mind, markets need fair competition to avert the above discussed situations. References Forms of Market Failure. (2012, October 24). The ICT Regulation Toolkit. Web. Market Failure. (n.d.). Oxford University Press. Web. Monopoly Power. (n.d.). Econo mics Online Home. Web. Stigler, G. J. (n.d.). Monopoly: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics | Library of Economics and Liberty. Library of Economics and Liberty. Web.

The Personal Is Political - Meaning and Origin

The Personal Is Political - Meaning and Origin The personal is political was a frequently heard feminist rallying cry, especially during the late 1960s and 1970s. The exact origin of the phrase is unknown and sometimes debated. Many second-wave feminists used the phrase the personal is political or its underlying meaning in their writing, speeches, consciousness-raising, and other activities. The meaning has sometimes been interpreted to mean that political and personal issues affect each other.  It has also meant that the experience of women is the grounding of feminism, both personal and political.  Some have seen it as a kind of practical model for creating feminist theory: begin with the small issues with which you have personal experience, and move from there to the larger systemic issues and dynamics which may explain and/or address those personal dynamics. The Carol Hanisch Essay Feminist and writer Carol Hanischs essay titled The Personal is Political appeared in the anthology Notes From the Second Year: Womens Liberation in 1970. She is therefore often credited with creating the phrase. However, she wrote in an introduction to the 2006 republication of the essay that she did not come up with the title. She believed The Personal Is Political was selected by the editors of the anthology, Shulamith Firestone and Anne Koedt, who were both feminists involved with the group New York Radical Feminists. Some feminist scholars have noted that by the time the anthology was published in 1970, the personal is political had already become a widely used part of the womens movement and was not a quote attributable to any one person. The Political Meaning Carol Hanischs essay explains the idea behind the phrase the personal is political.  A common debate between personal and political questioned whether womens consciousness-raising groups were a useful part of the political womens movement. According to Hanisch, calling the groups therapy was a misnomer, as the groups were not intended to solve any womens personal problems. Instead, consciousness-raising was a form of political action to elicit discussion about such topics as womens relationships, their roles in marriage, and their feelings about childbearing. The essay came in particular out of her experience in  the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF) and as part of the womens caucus of that organization, and out of her experience in the New York Radical Women  and the Pro-Woman Line within that group. Her essay The Personal Is Political said that coming to a personal realization of how grim the situation was for women was as important as doing political action such as protests. Hanisch noted that political refers to any power relationships, not just those of government or elected officials. In 2006 Hanisch wrote about how the essays original form came out of her experience of working in male-dominated civil rights, anti-Vietnam War and left (old and new) political groups.  Lip service was given to womens equality, but beyond narrow economic equality, other womens issues were often dismissed.  Hanisch was particularly concerned about the persistence of the idea that womens situation was womens own fault, and perhaps all in their heads.  She also wrote of her regret at not anticipating the ways in which both The Personal Is Political and the Pro-Woman Line would be misused and subject to revisionism. Other Sources Among the influential works cited as bases for the personal is political idea are C. Wright Mills 1959 book The Sociological Imagination, which discusses the intersection of public issues and personal problems, and Claudia Jones 1949 essay An End to the Neglect of the Problems of Negro Women. Another feminist sometimes said to have coined the phrase is Robin Morgan, who founded several feminist organizations and edited the anthology Sisterhood is Powerful, also published in 1970.Gloria Steinem has said that it is impossible to know who first said the personal is political and that saying you coined the phrase the personal is political would be like saying you coined the phrase World War II.  Her 2012 book,  Revolution from Within, has been cited as a later example of the use of the idea that political issues cannot be addressed separately from the personal. Critique Some have critiqued the focus on the personal is political because, they say, it has meant a focus more exclusively on personal issues such as family division of labor, and has ignored systemic sexism and political problems and solutions.