Category: Essentials of Economics: Ch 05
Reading the first article linked to below, you may be forgiven for thinking that farming has moved into the realms of science fiction. Dairy farming has moved determinedly into the era of technology and now benefits from extensive economies of scale with much higher productivity levels than even a decade ago. Yet 3000 dairy farmers are planning to leave the industry in the next two years and even the largest farms are struggling to make money. The processing sector has become significantly more concentrated and margins are being squeezed ever further by the power of the supermarkets, so has the market become unbalanced with too much power in the hands of supermarkets and processors?
Rising prices, failing farms. The strange story of milk Guardian (24/4/07)
Why British dairy farming is in crisis Guardian (24/5/07)
Questions
| 1. |
Describe the market structure of the milk industry. |
| 2. |
Discuss the extent to which this market structure has changed the level of prices in the market for milk in recent years. |
| 3. |
Evaluate possible measures that governments could implement to make the market for milk more competitive. |
Having secured the 2012 Olympics, we now have to work out how to pay for it. Recent news has indicated that the cost of hosting the Olympics has risen significantly from the original estimate. However, there is considerable debate in the media about what the real cost is. The figures given are massive, but what will we be left with after the games are over? How can we value these assets? The blog below from Evan Davis looks at some of these issues and discusses the real cost of hosting the Olympics.
Why do costs overrun? BBC News Online (16/3/07)
Real cost of 2012? BBC News Online – Evan Davis blog (15/3/07)
Questions
| 1. |
Identify five fixed and five variable costs of running the Olympics. |
| 2. |
Discuss the value of the opportunity cost of hosting the Olympics. |
| 3. |
List the direct and indirect benefits of hosting the 2012 Olympics in London. |
Adam Smith is the face on the new £20 note. This could be used as an argument that economics has moved into the mainstream, but many people may not be aware of the influence that he has had on modern classical economics. The articles below may help reveal his ongoing economic influence.
What you should know about Adam Smith BBC News Online (13/03/07)
Why Brown reveres the man on the new £20 note Guardian (19/03/06)
Questions
| 1. |
Assess the impact of Adam Smith on classical economic theory. |
| 2. |
Summarise the main works and theories of Adam Smith. (You may find the information in the Biz/ed Virtual Economy on Adam Smith helpful. For a complete list of works of Adam Smith, many online, see website C18 in the hotlinks section of this site.) |
| 3. |
Discuss the extent to which Gordon Brown has been influenced by Adam Smith in his policies. |
Try having a browse around the web for the price of an 8GB iPod Nano. How much variation can you find in price? It is almost certainly the case that you will find very little variation in price. So, why is this? Is it that Apple have such dominance over the market that they can force retailers to charge the price they want? Well no, they can’t. However, they do have some interesting marketing strategies that help them maintain the price at the level they want. The article below looks at these and the implications for retailers and the market price of these strategies.
Gadgets for sale… or not MSN Slate (22/12/06)
Questions
| 1. |
Explain what is meant by the term ‘price dispersion’. |
| 2. |
Explain how Apple manage to keep the price of iPods from falling below a certain level. |
| 3. |
Discuss the impact on competition of using minimum advertised price and marketing subsidies as tools to maintain the desired market price. |