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Prices aren't just about supply and demand, but control over supply and demand

dougaldlamont.substack.com

1–10 of 41 posts

Re: Prices aren't just about supply and demand, but control over supply and demand

#2
Nice description. Completely free markets are rarely efficient, but well regulated ones can be. All sorts of risks and externalities can substantially increase transaction costs. Crypto currencies show that even the most basic (store of value and currency exchange) economic transactions have substantial overhead. Most people end up using exchanges that have lower cost transactions with acceptable risk (most of the time).

Re: Prices aren't just about supply and demand, but control over supply and demand

#3
One odd thing about economics is that people will be familiar with roughly half of an introductory textbook, and then think they know everything about the subject. The fact that there is such a thing as "market power" is understood by every economist, and is central to the topic of "industrial organization". Increases in market power are even one of the standard explanations for the business cycle (they call them "markup shocks). Maybe the author knows that, but it's not clear from the post.

Re: Prices aren't just about supply and demand, but control over supply and demand

#7
post #5

It shocks me that this article could be written without mentioning the phrase "price elasticity" a single time (a word I learned in a class literally numbered "econ 101").

So basically another blog post describing someone almost re-discovering basic economic principles from first principle?

Re: Prices aren't just about supply and demand, but control over supply and demand

#9
post #5

It shocks me that this article could be written without mentioning the phrase "price elasticity" a single time (a word I learned in a class literally numbered "econ 101").

In which paragraph do you think that phrase belongs?
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