Think Like An Economist

S E21: Market Power - Why businesses charge more

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Dec 8, 2020
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INSIGHT

What Market Power Means

  • Market power is the ability to raise prices without losing many sales to rivals.
  • In perfect competition sellers are price takers and cannot charge above the market price.
ANECDOTE

Daraprim Price Spike Example

  • Martin Shkreli dramatically raised daraprim's price from $13.50 to $750 per tablet.
  • His company had a monopoly so he could raise price knowing few alternatives existed.
INSIGHT

The Middle Ground Of Markets

  • Most firms sit between perfect competition and monopoly with some market power.
  • That power lets them price above marginal cost but forces a trade-off between margin and quantity sold.
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