Heart of Darkness Good and Evil Essay

Each person on the planet can be good or evil. It’s human nature. In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the author shows how corruptible people are. Even the title symbolizes man’s capacity for evil. Throughout this novel, the characters show both good and evil. The first character to show these capacities is Marlow, the narrator. He shows his good side when he feels compassion for a chain gang of Africans. â€Å"A slight clinking behind me made me turn my head. Six black men advanced in a file, toiling up the path†¦ before I climbed the hill,† (81-82). Marlow can’t bare the sight of the prisoners. This compassion shows a flicker of good in his heart. But Marlow also shows evil. He sees dying Africans on his way to a meeting with the manager, and doesn’t lift a finger to help. â€Å"Black shapes crouched†¦ They were dying slowly†¦ I didn’t want any more loitering in the shade and I made haste to the station,† (83-84). Marlow just leaves. He doesn’t say a word to the manager. He doesn’t even try to help them himself. And after that, he doesn’t even think about them again. Marlow shows a capacity for good, but the evil permeates him more. The next character who demonstrates both good and evil traits is the manager. He characterizes some good by getting Marlow the supplies he wants and needs to get the expedition underway. One example is when the manager gets rivets so Marlow can fix the steamboat. â€Å"I slapped him on the back and shouted, ‘We shall have rivets! ’† (100). The manager becomes corrupted by his lust for power. He wants to be in control of every aspect of the journey. This craving for power drives him to put Mr. Kurtz into suspicion. The manager truly believes that Kurtz is doing so well with the ivory because he is vying for the manager position. â€Å"’Conceive you—that ass—he wants to be manager! ’† (104). The manager begins as good, but is corrupted by his power. The last character with an aptitude for good and evil is the amazing Mr. Kurtz himself. Kurtz is a superhero to all of the men in the Congo. He manages to find a seemingly never-ending supply of ivory and finds pay-dirt time after time when he is asked. Kurtz is put on a pedestal so high, that Marlow becomes depressed when a rumor goes around that Kurtz has died. â€Å"By Jove! It’s all over. We are too late; he (Kurtz) has vanished†¦ and my sorrow had a startling extravagance of emotion†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (124). Kurtz is portrayed as a person that every man dreams to be. The reality is not the case. After the expedition down the river, the crew finds that Kurtz has created his own world, where he is God, the savages are his slaves, and he owns everything. Kurtz is corrupted by his own greed. â€Å"Oh, yes, I heard him. ‘My Intended, my ivory, my station, my river, my—‘ everything belonged to him,† (126). Kurtz is the epitome of good and evil. He is shown to be the best person in Africa. But the reality is that Kurtz is a sick, twisted human being. He really presents the dual-capacity of human beings. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, characters reveal good and evil aspects to their personalities. Marlow is compassionate but passive. The manager is corrupted by his desire for power. And Kurtz is corrupted by his avarice. People need to take this message from Conrad and always brandish their good sides.

The Role of the Nephron

The Roles of the Nephron of the 120 ml of blood that is filtered by the kidneys each minute, only I ml (that's less than I%) turns into urine that will eventually leave the body (after approximately 300 – 400 mis of it accumulates to fill the bladder! ) That leaves 119 ml of fluid called filtrate to be returned back to the blood stream. Good thing, otherwise you would have to micturate (pee, urinate) once every 3 minutes and drink 1 L of fluid every 10 minutes in order to maintain Homeostasis!!!The one million nephrons in each human kidney are amazingly efficient at selectively removing wastes from the blood while at the same time conserving water, salt ions, glucose and other needed materials. The nephrons accomplish this task in 3 main steps; these 3 steps are also called the 3 main roles of the nephron: Filtration, Reabsorption and Secretion. Fiftratffln Filtration is aecomplished by the movement of fluids from the blood into the Bowman's capsule. Beabsorpttort Reatuorptias wolves the selective transfer of essential solutes and water back into the blood.Secretion Secretion Involves the movement of wastes from the blood into the mphron. 1. Filtration The renal artery carries blood into the kidney (approximately 600 mis of blood enters a kidney each minute). The renal artery then branches into arterioles which then branch intoaspecialized capillaries called the glomerulus. Because of the great difference in diameter between the renal artery and the glomerul us, blood entering the glomerulus is under very high pressure. This pressure forces about 20% of the blood plasma (about 120m1 of the 600 ml) out of the glomerulus and across the membrane of Bowman's capsule.Bowman's capsule acts to â€Å"filter† or separate some of the substances that are located in blood plasma from others. This is because some substances are small enough to fit through the pores of the membrane of Bowman's capsule and some are too large and thus do not enter Bowman's capsul e with the rest of the blood plasma. Water, salt ions (sodium, potassium and choride), glucose molecules, amino acids and urea molecules are all small enough to go through the membrane pores into Bowman's capsule. Blood cells (rbc, wbc and platelets) and proteins on the other hand are too large to leave the capillaries or enter Bowman's capsule.The fluid inside of Bowman's capsule gets a name change; it is now called â€Å"filtrate† because it is blood plasma that has been filtered, This filtrate is identical to blood plasma minus the blood cells and proteins. Filtrate is said to be isotonic to blood plasma with respect to its concentration of water, salt ions, glucose, amino acids and urea. The filtrate will then proceed from Bowman's capsule through the rest of the nephron in the following order: proximal convoluted tubule, loop of henle, distal convoluted tubule and finally the collecting tubule.From the collecting tubule, the filtrate will enter the pelvis of the kidney a nd be called urine. 2. Reabsorption Useful materials such as sugars and salt ions are reabsorbed back into the blood stream. That is, materials that could still be used by the body are sent back to the blood. Reabsorption happens as filtrate passes sequentially through the nephron. Materials re-entering the blood stream do so through the capillary network surrounding the nephrons. In short, â€Å"good† stuff is sent from the nephron back into the blood. A.Proximal Convoluted Tubule (PCn: As the filtrate enters the PCT approximately 80% of the salt ions (sodium and potassium), glucose and amino acids are ACTIVELY TRANSPORTED out of the PCT and back into the blood stream by special â€Å"pumping† cells located in the walls of the PCT. The process of active transport requires energy. Energy in the form of ATP is supplied by the numerous mitochondria that are embedded in the walls of the PCT. Because of ionic attraction, negatively charged chloride ions (CI-) will flow pas sively out of the PCT as they are attracted by the positively charged sodium and potassium ions (Na+, K+).As the concentration of the above mentioned solute molecules drops inside of the PCT, water then diffuses out of the PCT and into the capillary network passively by the process of OSMOSIS. The lining of the PCT contains microvilli to increase the surface area over which this reabsorption can occur. B. Descending Loop of Henle: As the filtrate travels into the descending Loop of Henle, both sodium and potassium ions passively diffuse from the salty tissues of the surrounding medulla BACK INTO the Loop of Henle. (Although this is eabsorption of materials, the materials are not going back into the blood stream at this point). At the same time, water continues to move out of the Loop of Henle and into the capillary network by osmosis. The filtrate at this point is more concentrated (hypertonic) with respect to salt ions than it was in the PCT, both because water has been removed fro m it, and because salt ions have been again added to it. C. AscendineLoop of Henle As the filtrate proceeds up into the ascending Loop of Henle, the choride ions are actively pumped back out of the nephron.Because of ionic attraction, sodium ions then passively follow the chloride ions out of the tubule and into the tissues of the medulla. These ions only move into the medulla and not back into the blood stream. Since the ascending Loop of Henle is impermeable to water, water cannot leave this part of the nephron. Because of this, the filtrate gets more dilute again. Because the opposite happens in the ascending and descending Loops of Henle, the process is called the COUNTER CURRENT MECHANISM. The process is also known as the CHLORIDE SfUFT.D. Distal Convoluted Tubule (DCT) As the filtrate passes through this part of the nephron, water continues to passively diffuse out of the nephron and back into the blood. Water continues to diffuse out of the DCT because the surrounding tissues of the medulla are now very salty due to so much sodium and chloride ions accumulating there. The salty tissues attract the water out of the DCT because the medulla is hypertonic with respect to salt concentration when compared with the salt concentration of the filtrate (now hypotonic).Water that enters the medulla will then diffuse back into the blood stream. Because of the continual re-absorption of water, the filtrate becomes more and more concentrated with wastes, mainly urea. The amount of water that diffuses can be regulated by a hormone called ADH. The amount of water that diffuses from the DCT back into the blood depends on the needs of the body; if the body is dehydrated, more water will go back into the blood, and less will be left in the nephron to make less urine.The opposite occurs if the body is over hydrated. E. Collectin g Tubule C The same thing that occurs in the DCT also occurs in the CT 3. Secretion Occurring at the same time as reabsorption is a process called secretion. Secretion is when a cell releases a substance to its outside†¦ in this case, non-useful and toxic substances are ACTIVELY TRANSPORTED from the blood into the nephron – usually in the regions of the distal and proximal convoluted tubules.Substances which are secreted include excess acid (H+) or base (OH-) ions, excess glucose (high glucose levels are found in diabetic urine or urine of someone who has recently consumed a large amount of sugar-this is the kidney's way of helping to ensure that the blood sugar level doesn't get too high), ammonia, and drugs (this is why urine is used from many drug tests – the breakdown of many drugs including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, sleeping pills, codeine and many other medications can be detected even in minute amounts in the urine).The process of secretion ensures that materials that are potentially harmful to the body are quickly disposed of by being â€Å"dumped† into the fluid that is about to become uri ne. Secretion happens mainly in the regions of the DCT and CT but some also occurs in the PCT. In short, secretion involves â€Å"bad† stuff being removed from the blood being sent to the urine. of the loop after chlorine. The sodium rushes The Counter Current Mechanism of the Nephron out by diffusion because of its ‘fatal attraction' to chlorine.The chlorine and the sodium ions collect and dominate the fluids outside the loop The loop of Henle works toward the goal of water conservation. Animals that live in a terrestrial environment need to be careful not to waste water. It is clearly a waste,if water is in short supply, to release too much water with the urine. As a result there needs to be a mechanism to encourage water out of the urine and back into the blood. The loop of Henle creates that animals.There i s no way of actively capturing water in the urine that is passing through the collecting ducts. It would almost seem too late to capture the water that is alread y on its way out of the body. However, the nifty nephron creates a trick with its loop of lienle to get the water out of the collecting duct before it leaves the kidney, kidney. The ascending loop of Henle actively transports chlorine ions out of the filtrate with carrier proteins. Chlorine builds up in the fluids of the medulla by active transport.Because it is a negative ion, it creates a cause for the sodium ion, which is positive, to rush out It does so by creating a salty environment in the medulla area of the mechanism in terrestrial of I-fenle creating a salty environment. This salty environment catches the attention of the water that is passing through the nearby collecting duct. salt. The collecting duct is permeable to water but not permeable to the Water can. not resist moving into the The salt creates an osmotic salty medulla. pressure that pulls the water out of the collecting duct by osmosis. Water has a ‘fatal attraction' to salty solutions. ) Once the water is out of the duct it is no longer destined for elimination but can' now be picked up by the nearby. ,Mood capillaries and returned to be used by;. body systems. Meanwhile, back at the loop of`-†¢Henle, trouble is starting. The ascending loop is running out of salt. There is no need to worry. The salt trick can continue because the descending loop in its wisdom is stealing back the salt that the ascending loop is so generously releasing.This helps to keep a constant flow of salt inside the loop for the ascending lope to pump out . Because of the generosity gfthe ascending loop and the stinginess of the descending loop a salt trade or salt current is established as the salt moves ouc of the ascen ding loop and into the descending loop, This salt current established by the loop of lienle maintains an environment that attracts water out of the ducts containing urine and back into the blood.This process is called the counter current mechanism. (ER 25 EXCRETION AND WE BALANCING OF WATE R AN Cl ruti†n i Tubular secretion Nctwp -i> Urea _, How Materials Move Into and Out of the Nephron As Urine Forms. As a Al. nephron extends through the kidney's cortex and medulla and dumps urine into the collecting duct, various substances enter and leave the filtrate. Broken lines represent segments of the nephron wall that are permeable to water, while solid lines represent wall segments impermeable to water.Narrow arrows represent passive diffusion of materials into or out of the nephron tubule, while wide arrows represent active transport against concentration gradients. Filtration activities are shown in blue, tubu. l ‘eabsorption activities in green, and tubular secretion in yellow. U ne is shown as yellow. traces nephron function and material movements step by step. The t FU†,t. Ic r1

Costs, perfect competition, monopolies, monopolistic competition Essay

* Total Cost = market value of inputs firm uses in production * Profit = TR – TC * Costs of production = opportunity costs of output of goods and services * Explicit costs = input costs that require outlay of money by firm * i. e. $1000 spent on flour = opportunity cost of $1000 because can’t be spent elsewhere * Implicit costs = input costs that do not require outlay of money by firm * i. e. working as baker at $10/hour, but could be making $20/hour as a computer analyst * Economists include both costs, while accountants often ignore implicit costs * Important implicit cost = opportunity cost of capital. * i. e. use $300,000 savings to buy factory, but could have invested it at interest rate of 5%/year * ? forgone $15,000/year in interest income = implicit opportunity cost of business * i. e. use $100,000 savings and borrow $200,000 from bank * Explicit cost will now include $10,000 paid to bank in interest * Opportunity cost is still $15,000 (OC of $10,000 paid to bank is $10,000 and there is a forgone interest savings of $5000) * Economic profit = TR – TC (including both explicit and implicit costs) * Accounting profit = TR – TEC (total explicit costs). * Consequently, accounting profit is often > economic profit * For economist, business is only profitable if it can cover all explicit and implicit costs Production & Costs * In short run = size of factory is fixed because it cannot be built overnight, but output can be varied by varying the number of workers * In long run = size of factory and number of workers can be varied * Production function: relationship b/w quantity of inputs used to make a good and the quantity of output of that good (short-run) * Marginal product = increase in output that arises from additional unit of input * MP = ? TP/? Q * Law of diminishing marginal product = property whereby the marginal product of an input declines as the quantity of the input increases * Slope of production function (quantity of input vs. quantity of output) = marginal product * Graph become â€Å"flatter† as marginal product decreases (see graph) * Total cost curve = graph w/ quantity produced on x-axis and total cost on y-axis * Graph becomes â€Å"steeper† as quantity of output increases (see graph). * Fixed costs = costs that do not vary with quantity of output produced * i.e. rent of factory, bookkeeper’s salary etc. * Variable costs = costs that do vary with the quantity of output produced * i. e. cost of raw materials, wages of workers (increases as more output produced) etc. * Average Total Cost = TC/Q * Also equal to average fixed cost + average variable cost * Average fixed cost = FC/Q * Average variable cost = VC/Q * Marginal cost = increase in total cost arising from an extra unit of production * MC = ? TC/? Q * Marginal cost rises as the quantity of output produced rises (see graph) Typical Cost Curves * In many firms, MP does not start to diminish immediately after hiring 1st worker * 2nd or 3rd worker may actually have higher MP than first, b/c a team of workers can divide tasks and work more productively than a single worker * AFC, AVC, MC, and ATC will look different for this scenario Costs in the Short Run and in the Long Run. * Division of total cost between fixed and variable costs depends on time horizon * In a few months, GM cannot adjust number/size of factories, only workers * Cost of factories, is therefore, fixed cost in short run * Over several years, however, GM can expand size and number of factories * Cost of factories, is therefore, variable cost in long run * Because fixed costs become variable in the long run, the ATC curve in short run differs from the ATC curve in the long-run * Long-run ATC is much flatter than short-run ATC * Short-run curves also lie on or above long-run curves. * Properties arise because firms have greater flexibility in the long run – can choose which short-run curve they wish to use * In short-run, b/c of diminishing marginal product, increasing quantity of output increases ATC * In long-run, there are situations where ATC does not change with an increase in output * Constant Returns to Scale: long-run ATC stays same as quantity of output changes * Diseconomies of Scale: long-run ATC rises as quantity of output increases . * Often arises because in large organizations, coordination problems arise – difficult to organize and mobilize vast amounts of labour and raw materials * Economies of Scale: long-run ATC falls as quantity of output increases * Often arises because at higher production levels, workers can specialize * Analysis explains why long-run ATC curves are often U-Shaped * Long-run ATC falls at low levels of production b/c of increasing specialization, and rises at high levels of production b/c of increasing coordination problems What is a competitive market? * Perfectly competitive market has two characteristics: (1) many buyers and many sellers in the market, (2) goods offered by various sellers are largely the same * Goal of perfectly competitive markets is to maximize profits * Actions of any single buyer or seller in market has negligible impact on market price * Each buyer and seller takes market price as given * i. e. no single buyer of milk can influence the price of milk because the buyer purchases a small amount relative to the size of the market * Each seller of milk also as little influence on price of milk, because it is selling milk that is virtually identical to the milk of other sellers. * B/c they must accept market price, buyers and sellers in competitive market = â€Å"price takers† * i. e.if a dairy farm doubles its output of milk, the price of milk remains the same, but their total revenue will double * Total revenue will increase because increase in quantity sold, not increase in price * Sometimes, (3) characteristic of competitive market also used – firms can freely enter or exit the market in the long run * Average revenue = total revenue/quantity sold. * AR = TR/Q * For all firms, average revenue equals the price of the good * Marginal revenue= change in total revenue from an additional unit sold * MR = ? TR/? Q * For all competitive firms, marginal revenue equals the price of the good Three general rules of profit-maximization: * If MR > MC, firm should increase its output * If MR < MC, firm should decrease its output * At the profit-maximizing level of output, MR = MC * Remember, because a competitive firm is a price taker, its MR is equal to the market price Note: In essence, because the firm’s marginal-cost curve determines the quantity of the good the firm is willing to supply at any price, it is the competitive firm’s supply curve Firm’s Short-Run Decision to Shut Down * Shut-down refers to short-run decision to not produce anything during a specific period of time b/c of current market conditions. * Exit refers to a long-run decision to leave the market * Firm that shuts down temporarily still has to pay fixed costs, whereas a firm that exits the market saves fixed costs and variable costs * i. e.if farmer decides not to produce crops one season, rent for land becomes sunk cost, but if farmer decides to sell farm altogether, no sunk costs * Firm shuts down if total revenue from production is less than its variable costs of production * Shut down if TR < VC * Alternatively, shut down if TR/Q < VC/Q . * Which means, shut down if P < AVC * On graph, if market price is less than minimum point on AVC curve, firm shuts down and ceases production – firm can re-open if market price changes to be higher than minimum point * Therefore, point at which MC intersects AVC is the â€Å"shutdown price† * If a firm shuts down temporarily, its fixed costs are sunk costs * Firm can safely ignore these costs when deciding how much to produce * i. e. why don’t many restaurants close down at lunch time when they are nearly empty? * Because the fixed costs (rent, kitchen equipment, plates, silverware etc. ) would still have to be paid, only the variable costs (cost of additional food and wages to stuff) would be saved * Owner can make enough profit to cover these variable costs, and therefore, keeps the restaurant open Firm’s Long-Run Decision to Exit or Enter a Market * The firm exits the market if the revenue it would get from producing is less than its total costs * Exit of TR < TC * Alternatively, exit if TR/Q < TC/Q * Which means, exit if P < ATC and enter if P > ATC * Therefore, point at which MC intersects ATC is the â€Å"exit/entry price† Measuring Profits from Graphs * Recall, Profit = TR – TC. * Alternatively, Profit = (TR/Q – TC/Q) x Q * Which means, Profit = (P – ATC) x Q The Supply Curve in a Competitive Market * So far we have examined supply decision of single firm – now examining supply curve of market * Two possibilities – short term = fixed number of firms, long term = firms can enter and exit The Short-Run: Market Supply with a Fixed Number of Firms * In short-run, the number of firms in the market is fixed * As a result, the market supply curve reflects the individual firms’ marginal-cost curves, only with increased magnitude (both graphs same, but market quantity multiplied by some scalar value) The Long-Run: Market Supply with Entry and Exit. * Assume all firms and all potential firms have same cost curves * If firms already in market are profitable, new firms will have incentive to enter the market * Entry if P >ATC because profit is positive (recall, Profit = (P – ATC) x Q) * Entry = expand # of firms, increase quantity of good supplied, and drive down prices and profits * If firms already in market are experiencing losses, firms may exit the market * Exit if P < ATC because profit is negative * Exit = decrease # of firms, decrease quantity of good supplied, and drive up prices and profits * At the end of this process of entry and exist, firms that remain the market must be making zero economic profit * In other words, the process of entry and exist ends only when price and average total cost are driven to equality (P = ATC). * This has a surprising implication—we earlier noticed that firms produce so that P = MC * We just noted that free entry and exist forced P = ATC * The only way this can occur is of MC = ATC, and this occurs only when the firm is operating at the minimum of average total cost—called the â€Å"efficient scale† * ? long-run equilibrium of a competitive market with free entry and exit must have firms operating at their efficient scale * Long-run supply curve (market) will be horizontal at the price which corresponds to the minimum of average total cost * Any P above this level generates profit, leading to entry and increase in total quantity supplied * Any P (price) below this level creates losses, leading to exit + decrease in total quantity supplied * Eventually, number of firms in market adjusts so P = minimum of ATC, and there are enough firms to satisfy all the demand at this price Why do competitive firms stay in business if they make zero profit? * Remember that economic profits are not the same as accounting profits * Economic profit accounts for opportunity cost as well * So, when a firm makes zero economic profit, it may still be making accounting profits A Shift in Demand in the Short Run and Long Run * Because firms can enter and exit more easily in the long run than in the short run, the long-run supply curve is typically more elastic than the short-run supply curve Chapter 15: Monopoly Why Monopolies Arise. * Firm is monopoly if it is sole seller of its product and if its product has no close substitutes * Case of monopoly is barriers to entry: a monopoly remains only seller in a market because other firms cannot enter market and compete with it * Barriers to entry are monopoly resources, government-created monopolies, and natural monopolies Monopoly Resources. * Single firm owns a key resource * i. e. only one well in town and no way to get water from anywhere else * Rarely occurs because economies are large and resourced owned by many people Government-Created Monopolies * Government gives one person or firm exclusive right to sell good or service * Two important examples are patent and copyright laws * Both lead to higher prices than under competition, but encourage desirable behaviour * Drug companies allowed patents to encourage research, and authors allowed copyrights so they write more original books * Monopoly = increased incentive for creative activity, but at a higher cost Natural Monopolies. * Single firm can supply good or service to entire market at lower cost than could 2 or more firms * Occurs when firm has economies of scale over relevant range of output * In other words, firm’s ATC curve continually declines because when production is divided among more firms, each firm produces less, and ATC rises – single firm can produce as smallest cost * i. e. to provide water to town, firm must build network of water pipes – if two firms involved, both would have to pay fixed cost of water pipe, resulting in increased ATC. * Natural monopoly = less concern about new entrants * Normal monopoly’s profits attract entrants to market, but in a natural monopoly, new entrants cannot achieve same low costs that monopolist enjoys * If a market expands (greater demand) natural monopoly can evolve into competitive market Monopoly vs. Competition. * Monopoly can influence market price of output, while competitive firm cannot * As monopoly is sole producer in market, it can alter price of good by adjusting supply to market * Demand curve for competitive market is perfectly elastic (can sell as little or as much as it wants at one price), while down-ward sloping for monopoly * ? monopoly has to accept lower price to sell more output, and can only accept higher price by selling less output – so what price and quantity will it choose to maximize profits? Monopoly’s Revenue * AR = price of good (true for monopoly and competitive), but MR is not equal to price of good. * As a result, average-revenue curve is also monopolist’s demand curve * When monopolist increases quantity sold, has two effects on total revenue (P x Q): 1) the output effect = more output sold, so Q is higher, which trends to increase total revenue 2) the price effect = price falls, so P is lower, which tends to decrease total revenue * Competitive firm as no price effects – price taker, therefore can sell as little or as much as it wants, without any change in price * ? Output/price effect causes monopolist’s MR after first unit sold to always be less than price of the good * Consequently, monopoly’s marginal-revenue curve always lies below its demand curve Profit Maximization * Profit-maximizing quantity of output as determined by intersection of MR and MC curve * Some key differences between monopolies and competitive firms: * P = MR = MC (competitive). * P > MR = MC * In competitive markets, price equals marginal cost, and in monopolized markets, price exceeds marginal cost – crucial to understanding the social cost of monopoly Monopoly’s Profits * Recall, Profit = TR – TC * Alternatively, Profit = (TR/Q – TC/Q) x Q * Which means, Profit = (P – ATC) x Q * Same as in competitive markets Monopoly Drugs vs. Generic Drugs * What happens to price of a drug with patent runs out? * Monopoly firm maximizes profit by producing quantity at which MR = MC, and charging price well above MC * Therefore, when patent runs out, the price of the good falls to MC * Note: MC for drugs is almost always constant. * Monopolist does not lose all market, however, because many buyers remain loyal to brand-name, and therefore, brand-name can still sell at slightly higher price than â€Å"generic brands† Welfare Cost of Monopoly * Monopolies = higher prices than competitive firms = undesirable for consumers = desirable for producers in terms of total revenue * Is it possible that monopoly is desirable from the standpoint of society as a whole? * Recall total surplus measures well-being of buyers and sellers in a market * Producer surplus is amount producers receive for a good – (minus) their costs of producing it * Consumer surplus is consumers’ willingness to pay for a good – amount they actually pay for it * In this case, single producer is monopolist The Deadweight Loss * Consider case of a â€Å"benevolent social planner†. * Social planner care not only about profit earned by firm’s owners, but also benefits received by the firm’s consumers * Planner tries to maximize total surplus, which is producer surplus (profit) plus consumer surplus * Alternatively, value of good to consumers – costs of making the good to monopoly producer * Demand curve reflects value of good to consumers *. Marginal cost curve reflects cost to the monopolist * Consequently, the socially efficient quantity is found were the demand curve and marginal-cost curve intersect * If social planner were running the monopoly, he would achieve efficient outcome by charging the price found at the intersection of demand curve (AR-curve) and the MC curve – much like a competitive market * However, monopolists charge the price found at the intersection of the MC and MR curve * ? the monopolist produces less than the socially efficient quantity of output, and charges more than the socially efficient price * When the monopolist charges a price higher than the marginal cost, some potential consumers value the good higher than the MC but lower than the monopolist’s price * Consumers do not buy the good, and monopoly pricing prevents mutually beneficial trade * The deadweight loss triangle = total surplus lost = reduction in economic well-being from monopoly Is Deadweight Loss a Social Problem? * Not necessarily a problem for society * Welfare in monopolized market includes welfare or both consumers and producers * When a consumer pays extra dollar to producer because of monopoly price, consumer is worse off by a dollar, and producer is better off by same amount * Transfer from consumer to producer does not affect total surplus—sum of consumer and producer surplus * Unless, consumers are for some reason more deserving than producers—a normative judgement about equity that goes beyond realm of economic efficiency. * Problem arises because firm produces and sells a quantity of output below the level that maximizes total surplus Price Discrimination * Business practice of selling the same good at different prices to different consumers * Can occur in a monopoly (firm with market power), not in a competitive market * In competitive market, many firms selling same good at market price—no one would lower market price for any customer as they can sell any given quantity at one price * Increasing price would also be pointless, as customer would simply buy from another firm A Parable about Pricing. * Dry-cleaning example from class – charge adults $10 and charge students $5 with a stdent card * Choosing to forgo market of students at $5 results in deadweight loss because students do not end up putting their shirts into dry-cleaning, though they value the service more than its MC of production * With price-discrimination, however, everyone ends up with a shirt . * Price discrimination can eliminate the inefficiency inherent in monopoly pricing, because differentiating prices allows producer to charge customer price closer to customer’s willingness to pay than is possible with a single price Notes about Price-Discrimination * Monopolist must be able to separate customers according to willingness to pay—either geographically, by age, by income etc. * Arbitrage prevents price-discrimination – process of buying good in one market at a low price and selling it in another market for a higher price * Increased welfare from price-discrimination is all higher producer surplus, not consumer surplus * Adults/students no better off from having cleaned shirts—paid price they were willing to pay * Entire increase in total surplus is a result of higher profits for the monopolist The Analytics of Price Discrimination. Perfect price discrimination = situation in which a monopolist knows exactly the willingness to pay of each customer and can charge each customer different prices accordingly * Monopolist gets the enter surplus in every transaction * Also sometimes referred to as first-degree price discrimination * Refer to diagrams (a) and (b). * (a) firm charges single price above MC, and b/c some potential customer who values good at more than MC does not buy it at this high price, monopoly causes deadweight loss * (b) each customer who values good at more than MC buys good and is charged willingness to pay – mutually beneficial trade takes place, no deadweight loss, and entire surplus derived from market goes to monopoly producer in form of profit * Of course, in real life, price discrimination is never perfect because various customers are willing to pay various different prices – two forms of imperfect price discrimination . * 1) second-degree price discrimination = charging different prices to same customer depending on quantity of product bought * 2) third-degree price discrimination = market can be segmented and segments have different elasticities of demand * i. e. movie theatres charge lower price for children and senior citizens than for other patrons * Makes little sense in a competitive market, where price = MC, and MC for providing seat to child/senior citizen is same as anyone else. * If movie theatre has local monopoly, however, price-discrimination has motives * Demand curve for adults is less elastic, therefore can charge higher price, whereas demand curve for children/seniors is more elastic, therefore can charge lower price * How does imperfect price discrimination affect welfare? * Compared to monopoly outcome with single price, imperfect price discrimination can raise, lower, or leave unchanged total surplus in a market—however, always raises monopoly’s profits Examples of Price Discrimination * Airline Prices – charge less if stay over Saturday night or purchase two weeks ahead to separate personal travellers, from business travellers, who pay more * Discount Coupons – rich, busy executive will not clip coupons, whereas a unemployed individual will, allowing price discrimination * Financial Aid – separate wealthy students willing to pay high tuition from less well-off students * Quantity Discounts – bulk is cheaper because customer’s willingness to pay for an additional unit declines as the customer buys more units Public Policy towards Monopolies. * Monopolies fail to allocate resources efficiently * Produce less than socially desirable quantity of output * Charge prices above marginal cost Policymaker’s Response * Increasing Competition with Competition Law – for example, mergers * Regulation – natural monopolies not allowed charging whatever price they want, but what price should government set of a natural monopoly? * One might conclude set P = MC, so customers equal quantity of output that maximizes total surplus, and allocation of resources is efficient * However, natural monopolies always have declining ATC ? MC < ATC, if P = MC, then P < ATC, and firm loses money and exits industry * Government can subsidize monopolist and pick up losses inherent to MC-pricing, but would need to raise money through taxation for subsidy, and taxes have own deadweight loss * Alternatively, regulators can allow monopolist to charge price higher than MC, and if regulated P equals ATC, monopolist earns exactly zero economic profit * Yet, average-cost pricing leads to deadweight losses b/c monopolist’s price no longer reflects MC or producing good * Ultimate problem with MC- and AC-pricing is it gives monopolist no incentive to reduce costs—normally reduce costs to increase profits, but in these cases, monopolist will not benefit * Solution: keep some benefits from lower costs in form of higher profit, and practice something that is a small departure from MC-pricing. * Public Ownership—government owns natural monopoly instead of private firm * Doing Nothing—degree of â€Å"market failure† in economy smaller than â€Å"political failure† in gov’t Differences and Similarities | Competition| Monopoly| Similarities| Goal of firms| Maximize profits| Maximize profits| Rule for maximizing| MR = MC| MR = MC| Can earn economic profits in short run? | Yes| Yes| Differences| Number of Firms| Many| One| Marginal Revenue| MR = P| MR < P| Price| P = MC| P > MC| Produces welfare-maximizing level of output? | Yes| No| Entry in long run? | Yes| No| Can earn economic profits in long run? | No| Yes| Price discrimination possible? | No| Yes| Chapter 16: Monopolistic Competition. * Oligopoly: market structure in which only a few sellers offer similar or identical products * Concentration ratio: percentage of total output in market supplied by four largest firms * Monopolistic competition: market structure in which many firms sell products that are similar but not identical—following qualities: * Many sellers ? firms competing for same group of customers. * Product differentiation ? downward-sloping demand curve * Free entry and exit ? market adjusts until economic profits driven to zero Monopolistically Competitive Firm in the Short Run * Products are different ? faces downward-sloping demand curve * Same profit maximization rule as monopoly (Q at MR = MC and equivalent P on demand curve) * Identical to monopoly The Long Run Equilibrium. * When firms make profit in the short-run, new firm have incentive to enter the market * Demand curve shifts to left (reduces demand of each individual firm) * As demand for firms’ fall, firms experience declining profit * Conversely, when firms incur losses in short-run, firms exit * Demand curves shift to right (demand experienced by individual firms increases) * As demand for firms’ products rises, firms experience rising profit. * Entry/exit continues until firms in market make zero economic profit (P = ATC) * Demand curve is tangent to ATC (just touching, never crossing) * Characteristics of long-run equilibrium in monopolistic competition * As in monopoly market, P > MC (for profit maximization, MR = MC, and downward-sloping demand curve makes MR < P) * As in competitive market, P = ATC (free entry and exit drive economic profit to 0) Monopolistic vs. Perfect Competition Excess Capacity. * Entry and exit drive each firm in monopolistically competitive market to point of tangency between demand and ATC curves * However, this means quantity produced is less than that produced at the â€Å"efficient scale† –quantity that minimizes ATC (point at which MC intersects with ATC) * Perfectly competitive firms produce at the efficient scale * Monopolistically competitive firms therefore have excess capacity—they are not producing as much as they potentially can * Firm forgoes opportunity to produce more because it would need to cut prices to sell the additional output * More profitable to continue operating at excess capacity Markup over Marginal Cost. * Relationship between Price and Marginal Cost also different * Competitive firm, P = MC * Monopolistic competition, P > MC, because it must be for P = ATC * This leads to behavioural differences b/w perfect and monopolistic competitors * Perfectly competitive firm does not care for additional customers because P = MC, profit from extra unit sold is always zero * By contrast, monopolistically competitive firms P > MC, therefore, extra units sold = more profit Monopolistic Competition and Welfare of Society * One source of inefficiency is that P > MC * Some consumers who value good at more than MC, but less than P will not buy the good * ? deadweight loss similar to that of monopoly pricing * Another source of inefficiency is: 1) Product-variety externality: b/c consumers get some consumer surplus from introduction of new product, entry of new firm conveys +ve externality on consumers 2) Business-stealing externality: b/c other firms lose customers and profits from entry of a new competitor, entry of new firm imposes negative externality on existing firms * Perfectly competitive firms produce identical goods and charge P = MC, therefore neither externality exists under perfect competition * ? Monopolistically competitive markets do not have desirable welfare properties of perfectly competitive markets because it is not ensured that total surplus is maximized * Also very difficult to control these inefficiencies through public policy Advertising * Amount of advertising depends on products * Firm that sells highly differentiated consumer goods i. e.soft drinks, will need to advertise more than seller of undifferentiated industrial nails, or homogenous products like wheat * Some people critique advertising for convincing people that products are more different than they actually are, fostering brand loyalty and encouraging consumers to ignore price differences * With less elastic demand curve, firm charges larger markup over MC. * Support for brands suggests that brands provide consumers with information about quality of goods, and gives firms incentive to maintain high quality to protect reputation of brand names * Others believe encourages competition as it makes customers better informed about products * Advertising can signal quality of product as well, because firm willing to spend money on advertising must be creating a good product.

Psychological Testing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Psychological Testing - Term Paper Example In a recent commentary regarding President Obama’s speech in The New York Times, author Trip Gabriel briefly discussed the President’s remarks regarding the â€Å"high stakes† tests and the incited reaction from a couple of bloggers. The President remarks on how much focus is given to these tests at the expense of the curriculum. According to the article, President Obama said, â€Å"Too often, what we’ve been doing is using these tests to punish students or to, in some cases, punish schools.† A blogger for Education Week remarked that the President is going against his own government’s policies on standardized tests that involve having students go through several tests in a school year. However, the Department of Education maintains its stand on the expansion of testing. They claim that these are actually means to ease the pressure on teachers, because instead of year-end tests that normally put the blame on schools if the results are bad, st udents will be tested for their own progress more than once a year (Gabriel, â€Å"Bloggers Challenge President†). The issue here is not merely the number of tests a student has to go through, but the test itself. However, increasing the number of tests in a year increases the issues in these tests as well. Even author Alfie Kohn in his book â€Å"The Case against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools† explains his opposition to standardized testing. The issues STANDARDIZED TESTS 3 surrounding the tests are abound, yet articles that give adequate information on the tests are lacking. Most of the publicly available articles offer generic information on the tests, but do not really describe the content. Sometimes, the content of the test might surprise the students and their parents (Harlen, 2002, p.141). For example, in another article from The New York Times last March 16 by Jacques Steinberg entitled â€Å"For SAT Test-Takers, Is ‘The Si tuation’ the Right Answer?,† the peculiarity of a test question is discussed. The essay prompt asked the students to provide opinions regarding reality television. The executive director of the SAT test declared that the question is about pop culture and it was just a fair question to ask. People may have differing opinions on this matter. However, it sort of emphasizes the point that the scope of the exam is not widely discussed publicly, since topics such as this causes surprise from parents of test-takers (Steinberg, â€Å"For SAT Test-Takers†). Still, the presence or absence of the information is not the main topic of this paper. The issue on how necessary these tests are is the area that needs more attention. First, even though newspapers frequently quote the scores of the tests, and several experts believe that this is the best measurement for an individual’s progress, it is not the absolute standard for success (Ryan and Weinstein, 2009, p.224). Stu dents have endured more and more tests over time, yet discussion on new educational processes are not happening. The tests only force the institutions to push their students to earn higher grades, but they do not result in providing solutions to the real problems that causes low marks (Harlen, 2002, p.141). Second, Indian University Professor of Education Roger Farr states that â€Å"multiple-choice questions do not allow students to apply what they can do.†

Quantitative Methods for Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Quantitative Methods for Business - Essay Example This essay offers a comprehensive analysis of the role of the quantitative methods in ensuring economic efficiency of the management process.These methods do not just play an important role in making business decisions. There are also instrumental in estimation. Thirdly they are also a valuable tool for taking inventory of items, cost and profit. This is the unique tracking aspect of these methods. Business decision cannot be taken on a light note and hence it is absolutely that all logical and mathematical calculations are exhausted so that an optimal result can be ascertained before a final decision is implemented that will be of consequential importance to the business and the profit and or loss that subsequently endured. The process of a Quantitative Method in business is that the method gives a systematic and theoretical yet practical approach to finding solutions to pending and prospective problems. It is also important in making certain decisions that require critical thinking and analysis. This also enables an executive or a key decision maker of the business to take defining decisions that are binding on the entire business based on transparency and sound judgment through logical principles. These principles are based on a logical schematic that deals with each decision in a step by step fashion. This approach is necessary because it step of the decision making process has its own stressors and set of parameters. Quantitative methods also have an extraordinary tool in its arsenal which is numerical analysis. ... The method of quantitative analysis that is applied involves the valuation of an expected return of profit on the varying amounts of expenditures. This in turn allows one to deduce the most logical and sound method to secure the bid value and at the very same time making the most profit in the bargain. The thinking behind securing the bid value is applying linear programming to calculate the exact balance between minimum bid price and maximum profit attained using a production possibility curve as an economic function. The bid value hence must provide a profitable aspect for both the bidder and the client who requires a bid to be made. The whole aim of the Quantitative method for businesses is to foster an analytical mindset that is very important in the process of project acquisition, development, marketing, management and execution (Slater et.al, 2002, pp. 222-228). Sequelae Project management is a very volatile and demanding field of business development that requires the manager to be on the top of their game at all times. Therefore it is of paramount importance that project managers are able to utilize the complete range of skills and procedures that are prevalent in Quantitative methods for studying the business conditions. Secondly managers continuously need to associate decision making with consequential results. Thirdly they have to take a look at viable alternative. These alternatives in turn need to be assessed to see if they can be practical or theoretical and a cost benefit analysis using the Quantitative method has to be conducted. Finally the result of each alternative being theoretically applied to the projected situation has to be estimated before an

Battle of Waterloo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Battle of Waterloo - Essay Example France has found a charismatic and ambitious leader in the person of Napoleon Bonaparte. His string of victories in the battlefields of Europe all the more contributed to his steady rise and prominence among the French people. Consequently, France's rise to power brought unease among other European nations. Assured of his prominent status and support among the people, Napoleon launched a coup in 1799 that overthrew the Bourbon king and established himself as ruler and First Consul. Later on, he would declare himself emperor for life ("The Battle of Waterloo"). Napoleon had wanted to make France the most powerful country in Europe and to achieve this; he waged a campaign of annexation and colonization of lands which resulted in many victories for his army. The wars were later called the Napoleonic Wars. A coalition of major powers in Europe, notably the Great Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria mobilized an army to meet the threat posed by Napoleon's army. After a series of wars, the Allied army finally defeated Napoleon in 1814 thereby effectively checking his ambition of establishing France as the dominant power in Europe. Napoleon was subsequently deposed and exiled to the island of Elba along with some 600 of his loyal guards in accordance with the Treaty of Fontainbleau. The bourbon king, Louis XVIII was made ruler of France by the victorious European powers ("Battle of Waterloo"). The Congress of Vienna was convened by the nations of Europe that defeated Napoleon to discuss the problems that arose after the fall of France. The Congress also wanted to re-establish the territorial balance in Europe wherein the future and status of the nations conquered and annexed by Napoleon's campaign in Europe were to be discussed. The unpopularity and ineptness of Louis XVIII resulting in economic and social unrest left many veterans who fought with Napoleon and many citizens as well clamoring for change. The men who had fought alongside Napoleon remained a potent force and many felt that their past efforts were wasted because of the government's corruption and insensitiveness to the needs of the people. Many were hoping that their deposed emperor would return and liberate them. Napoleon, believing that many in France would allow his return while others would not dare oppose it, decided to risk a return and put forth plans to establish himself again as the ruler of France ("Waterloo"). On Feb. 26, 1815, Napoleon together with less than a thousand of his men, left Elba and landed on an unpopulated beach near Antibes. Napoleon is determined to return to Paris and early on the next day, he marched toward Grenoble with his men. Soldiers who were stationed in outposts outside Paris initially barred his advance but after offering the guards to shoot him because he has no intention of turning back, instead joined him. Everywhere Napoleon marched, veteran soldiers and those soldiers serving the government joined his ranks. At Auxerre, Marshal Ney, Napoleon's old comrade whom he once called the "bravest of the brave," was overwhelmed by the presence of his former emperor. He embraced him and turned over to Napoleon the command of his 6,000 troops. Because of

No End in Sight Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

No End in Sight - Essay Example Bodine’s view of the reconstruction was to reach out to the Iraqis and identify government technocrats, as well as civil leaders who can effectively run the state (Shaikh 1). For a short period of time, she achieved a lot. What fascinated me about her was that, in such a demanding atmosphere, she managed to identify the best steps to be taken and how they would go about evaluating the steps. Richard Lee Armitage was an ex-deputy secretary of State Department. According to Armitage, the Iraq reconstruction was all about promoting world peace. He considered Iraq to be a threat to world peace (Shaikh 1). Armitage was also quite congenial during the interview, and that is fascinated me about him. The film covered the Iraq occupation mainly through interviews. The interviewees were mainly significant figures who were charged with managing the restriction. It dwelled on the mistakes that the Bush Administration during its occupation of Iraq (Shaikh 1). What shocked me was that the lack of security, rise of insurgency, lack of basic services and also, at one instance, the risk of a civil war, was caused by the mistakes made by Americans. If an outside power occupied my country and allowed widespread looting to take place and did not protect my country’s historical monuments, then I would consider them as taking us for granted. I would also think that their purpose for occupying our nation was for their own benefit. This will make me think of ways to remove them from my country. I will also make me despise the outside power. As depicted in the film, the daily lives of Iraqis were looting, fighting each other, killing each other and widespread demonstrations. Homes were burnt down, so people became homeless. Also, the country came to a standstill (Shaikh 1). In fact, during this period, Iraq could not be considered a country because even its leaders had exiled the nation and some killed. If I was in