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LEADING ECONOMIC INDICATOR: One of eleven economic statistics that tend to move up or down a few months before the expansions and contractions of the business cycle. These leading indicators are -- manufacturers new orders, an index of vendor performance, orders for plant and equipment, Standard & Poor's 500 index of stock prices, new building permits, durable goods manufacturers unfilled orders, the money supply, change in materials prices, average workweek in manufacturing, changes in business and consumer credit, a consumer confidence index, and initial claims for unemployment insurance. Leading indicators indicate what the aggregate economy is likely to do, business-cycle-wise, 3 to 12 months down the road. When leading indicators rise today, then the rest of the economy is likely to rise in the coming year. And when leading indicators decline, then the economy is likely to decline in 3 to 12 months.
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                           MONOPOLY, EFFICIENCY: A monopoly generally produces less output and chargers a higher price than would be the case for perfect competition. In particular, the price charged by a monopoly is higher than the marginal cost of production, which violates the efficiency condition that price equals marginal cost. Monopoly is inefficient because it has market control and faces a negatively-sloped demand curve. Monopoly does not efficiently allocate resources. In fact, monopoly (if left unregulated) is generally considered the most inefficient of the four market structures. The reason for this inefficiency is found with market control. As the only seller in the market, the negatively-sloped market demand curve is THE demand curve facing the monopoly. If buyers want to buy, they must buy from the monopoly.The negative slope of the demand curve means that the price charged by the monopoly is greater than marginal revenue. As a profit-maximizing firm that equates marginal revenue with marginal cost, the price charged by monopoly is greater than marginal cost. The inequality between price and marginal cost is what makes monopoly inefficient. Profit Maximization| Inefficiency |  |
Consider the production and sale of Amblathan-Plus, the only cure for the deadly (but hypothetical) foot ailment known as amblathanitis. This drug is produced by the noted monopoly firm, Feet-First Pharmaceutical.A typical profit-maximizing output determination using the marginal revenue and marginal cost approach is presented in this diagram. Feet-First Pharmaceutical maximizes profit by producing output that equates marginal revenue and marginal cost, which is 6 ounces of Amblathan-Plus in this example. The corresponding price charged is $7.50. This profit-maximizing production is not efficient. In particular, the price is $7.50, but the marginal cost is only $4.50. Society is producing and consuming a good that it values at $7.50 (the price). However, in so doing, society is using resources that could have produced other goods valued at $4.50 (the marginal OPPORTUNITY cost). Society gives up $4.50 worth of value and receives $7.50. This is a good thing. It is so good, that society should do more. However, the monopoly is not letting this happen. Feet-First Pharmaceutical is not devoting as many resources to the production of Amblathan-Plus as society would like. An Efficient AlternativeThe degree of monopoly inefficiency can be illustrated with a comparison to perfect competition. Such a comparison is easily accomplished by clicking the [Perfect Competition] button. A primary use of perfect competition is to provide a benchmark for the comparison with other market structures, such as monopoly.A comparison between monopoly and perfect competition indicates: - Monopoly produces less output than perfect competition. In this example, monopoly produces 6 ounces of Amblathan-Plus compared to about 7.5 ounces for perfect competition. The Feet-First Pharmaceutical monopoly does not allocate enough resources to the production of Amblathan-Plus.
- Monopoly charges a higher price than perfect competition. In this example, the monopoly price is $7.50 per ounce versus about $6.75 per ounce for perfect competition. The Feet-First Pharmaceutical monopoly is NOT efficient because it produces at a quantity in which price is greater than marginal cost.
Recommended Citation:MONOPOLY, EFFICIENCY, AmosWEB Encyclonomic WEB*pedia, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2021. [Accessed: August 4, 2021].
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PURPLE SMARPHIN
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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time flipping through the yellow pages trying to buy either a remote controlled World War I bi-plane or a wall poster commemorating Thor Heyerdahl's Pacific crossing aboard the Kon-Tiki. Be on the lookout for malfunctioning pocket calculators.
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The earliest known use of paper currency was about 1270 in China during the rule of Kubla Khan.
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"Motivation is everything. You can do the work of two people, but you can't be two people. Instead, you have to inspire the next guy down the line and get him to inspire his people." -- Lee Iacocca, Chrysler chairman
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JPAM
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management
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