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Could anyone help with this question, it's only one mark but you have to look at the information given.image.jpg
image.jpgPleaseeeee help on evaluating this? I've set up the failure already. Thankssss
Hi, I have an essay due tomorrow so please please reply as soon as possible!

My essay question is: ''why should the government be concerned about economic inequality, apart from poverty?''

I have so far written 800 words but I'm not finished. Any ideas would be useful!
Original post by goldenusername
Hi, I have an essay due tomorrow so please please reply as soon as possible!

My essay question is: ''why should the government be concerned about economic inequality, apart from poverty?''

I have so far written 800 words but I'm not finished. Any ideas would be useful!


Could look at the knock on effect of economic poverty, increase crime for example, or anti social behaviour. Other effect could be the likelihood of these people taking alcohol/drugs etc especially in poverty stricken areas where it is more likely. Another area could be lower paid families have historically had less advantaged children so the effect it could have on future generation education and lead to a less skilled economy.
Original post by samiz20891
Could look at the knock on effect of economic poverty, increase crime for example, or anti social behaviour. Other effect could be the likelihood of these people taking alcohol/drugs etc especially in poverty stricken areas where it is more likely. Another area could be lower paid families have historically had less advantaged children so the effect it could have on future generation education and lead to a less skilled economy.


Hi thank you so much for the response :smile: I've actually completed the essay this morning & I've used all of the points you have mentioned. My mind is at ease now, thank you again :smile:
I have a question for my essay and I have no idea what points to include or how to even structure/write the essay.

The question is: "Evaluate the extent to which the price of food is likely to rise by more than the price of air travel in the future" - 25 marks.

Any help would be very much appreciated :smile:
Original post by keynesian99
I have a question for my essay and I have no idea what points to include or how to even structure/write the essay.

The question is: "Evaluate the extent to which the price of food is likely to rise by more than the price of air travel in the future" - 25 marks.

Any help would be very much appreciated :smile:


So the way I would structure it would start by having a small intro explaining you are going to consider the advantages and disadvantages of increased air travel.
Then look at the advantages. If food comes from foreign countries by plane, price is likely to be passed on to consumers as unlikely firm will want to reduce margins. look at whether it is feasible for other transport options, as good is perishable may not.
Then look at the disadvantages or why that statement is wrong. will it incentive more local produce? can this be used to increase sales? can we use shipping? can we look around reducing raw materials cost, I.e buying from France instead of new Zealand or large quantities. etc....
Then to conclude, weigh up which side you believe is stronger and then evaluate by saying I believe that the price of increased air travel is likely or not likely to increase air prices due to the factors I have explained above, however I have also explored that there could be other x alternatives which could be used too.

That should give you a quick structure to how to write this essay.
Original post by keynesian99
I have a question for my essay and I have no idea what points to include or how to even structure/write the essay.

The question is: "Evaluate the extent to which the price of food is likely to rise by more than the price of air travel in the future" - 25 marks.

Any help would be very much appreciated :smile:


Is this a micro only question or is it a 'microeconomic and macroeconomic impacts' sort of question?

In addition to what's been said:

Food is considered a necessity (0<YED<1) and therefore as incomes rise, demand for food is likely to stay the same. If demand doesn't shift to the right then price won't increase. Conversely, air travel is a luxury (YED>1) as when incomes rise, more people will want to and be able to go on holiday. So if incomes rise in the future, demand for air travel rises too and pushes prices higher.
An evaluation point to this is that it assumes incomes will rise in the future which may not be true if the economy is in recession or there is a lack of productivity growth.

And then you can look at the supply side.
What are the actual differences between the new (2016) vs the older (2014) economics syllabus?
I just need more clarification because I'm looking at them side by side and they are exactly alike.
ImageUploadedByStudent Room1487880671.424355.jpg

Can someone please explain what these industrial measure mean and how they, when used as SSP measures, can improve the productive potential of the economy. I understand privatisation and deregulation but not the other two.

Thanks !


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For a natural monopoly the long-run average cost curve (LRAC) falls continuously over a large range of output. The result may be that there is only room in a market for one firm to fully exploit the economies of scale that are available.

I don't understand why does this mean that there is only one firm to exploit the EoS?

Also, LRAC is falling because long run marginal cost is below LRAC. There may be room only for one supplier to reach the minimum efficient scale and achieve productive efficiency.
ImageUploadedByStudent Room1488044018.988121.jpg

I don't understand the paragraph above either, why is marginal cost less than average cost and how does his mean only one supplier can reach the productively efficient point on the LRAC curve?


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Original post by Chittesh14
For a natural monopoly the long-run average cost curve (LRAC) falls continuously over a large range of output. The result may be that there is only room in a market for one firm to fully exploit the economies of scale that are available.

I don't understand why does this mean that there is only one firm to exploit the EoS?


It's not so much that there is only one firm which can exploit economies of scale but the economies of scale mean that the industry can support only one firm.

A firm operating at high levels of output have an incredibly low average cost. They can produce goods at a lower cost and therefore supply them at a a lower cost. Smaller firms simply cannot compete and drop out of the market, leaving one firm left.

Original post by Chittesh14


Also, LRAC is falling because long run marginal cost is below LRAC. There may be room only for one supplier to reach the minimum efficient scale and achieve productive efficiency.

I don't understand the paragraph above either, why is marginal cost less than average cost


If average cost falls that means marginal cost is less than the average.

For example:

Imagine 5 test papers, each with a mark of 10. The average mark of all five papers is 10.

If you add another paper to the set that has a mark of 8 then the average falls to 9.6


Original post by Chittesh14
how does his mean only one supplier can reach the productively efficient point on the LRAC curve?


It doesn't. MC below AC just describes economies of scale. And this is just your first question.
Original post by BasicMistake
It's not so much that there is only one firm which can exploit economies of scale but the economies of scale mean that the industry can support only one firm.

A firm operating at high levels of output have an incredibly low average cost. They can produce goods at a lower cost and therefore supply them at a a lower cost. Smaller firms simply cannot compete and drop out of the market, leaving one firm left.



If average cost falls that means marginal cost is less than the average.

For example:

Imagine 5 test papers, each with a mark of 10. The average mark of all five papers is 10.

If you add another paper to the set that has a mark of 8 then the average falls to 9.6




It doesn't. MC below AC just describes economies of scale. And this is just your first question.


Thank you so much, I understand it now ! So does that mean the last line is incorrect ?


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Original post by Chittesh14
Thank you so much, I understand it now ! So does that mean the last line is incorrect ?


MC below AC does not mean that there is a natural monopoly. Every firm has MC below AC at some point (see your normal cost curves) but natural monopolies have falling AC at levels of output far beyond normal firms.
Original post by BasicMistake
MC below AC does not mean that there is a natural monopoly. Every firm has MC below AC at some point (see your normal cost curves) but natural monopolies have falling AC at levels of output far beyond normal firms.


Okay, I guess it is trying to say only one firm can enjoy the economics of scale and therefore only that firm can teach the lowest point on the LRAC.

Thanks for the help :smile:, it has improved my understanding!


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ImageUploadedByStudent Room1488054071.436148.jpgImageUploadedByStudent Room1488054079.725219.jpg

Hi guys, in limit and predatory pricing - do the established and larger firms reduce the price of a good just above and below their average cost or the new firms (smaller firms) average cost?


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Original post by Chittesh14
ImageUploadedByStudent Room1488054071.436148.jpgImageUploadedByStudent Room1488054079.725219.jpg

Hi guys, in limit and predatory pricing - do the established and larger firms reduce the price of a good just above and below their average cost or the new firms (smaller firms) average cost?


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I think I understand this. Can someone please help me illustrate this on a diagram for a monopoly. I can illustrate it using the economies of scale diagram but find it hard to show using the full monopoly diagram where MC, MR, AR is there etc.


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Avoiding wasteful duplication
The best way to ensure competition, without the need to duplicate the infrastructure, is to allow new train operators to use the existing track; hence, competition has been introduced, without duplication of costs. This is called opening-up the infrastructure.

This approach is frequently adopted to deal with the problem of privatising natural monopolies and encouraging more competition, such as:

Telecoms, the network is provided by BT

Gas, the network is provided by National Grid (previously Transco)

Can someone please explain how the two examples adopt this method ?


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Original post by Chittesh14
Avoiding wasteful duplication
The best way to ensure competition, without the need to duplicate the infrastructure, is to allow new train operators to use the existing track; hence, competition has been introduced, without duplication of costs. This is called opening-up the infrastructure.

This approach is frequently adopted to deal with the problem of privatising natural monopolies and encouraging more competition, such as:

Telecoms, the network is provided by BT

Gas, the network is provided by National Grid (previously Transco)

Can someone please explain how the two examples adopt this method ?


Posted from TSR Mobile


Both Bt and National Gas were originally nationalised. This means that they were state funded monopolies and therefore were funded by the government and the infrastructure was set up to help the residents of the country.
Over time this mean that the government helped to fund railway lines, telephone cables or even gas exploration sites. Now, they want to privatise these companies so they are now owned by shareholders not government and this will introduce competition as they will now compete with other private companies to tender for business.
However, all the infrastructure built over the years still exists and if this could not be used, not used for anything else atm, companies will have to spend money building infrastructure. this is costly and so many companies may not enter the market otherwise, which could again then create a monopoly which is what the government is trying to avoid. So the open infrastructure is better.
Original post by samiz20891
Both Bt and National Gas were originally nationalised. This means that they were state funded monopolies and therefore were funded by the government and the infrastructure was set up to help the residents of the country.
Over time this mean that the government helped to fund railway lines, telephone cables or even gas exploration sites. Now, they want to privatise these companies so they are now owned by shareholders not government and this will introduce competition as they will now compete with other private companies to tender for business.
However, all the infrastructure built over the years still exists and if this could not be used, not used for anything else atm, companies will have to spend money building infrastructure. this is costly and so many companies may not enter the market otherwise, which could again then create a monopoly which is what the government is trying to avoid. So the open infrastructure is better.


Sorry, I just realised that I forgot to reply to this lol. This helped a lot and I understood the topic and case studies afterwards :smile:! Thanks a lot.

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