What I have learned during the film viewing in econ was that there are different types of market as discussed by Mr. Timothy Taylor, the speaker. The different types of market are perfect competition where firms are small with identical products and all are price takers, Monopoly where there is only one seller, Oligopoly where firms are small but they have all or most of the revenue in the industry, and Monopolistic Competition where there are many sellers but have different or only similar products. Mr. Timothy also discussed about the antitrust enforcement and other methods that the government uses, particularly in the United States, to protect competition in the market and to protect the consumers against unfair pricing by firms especially the monopolistic ones.
What I have learned in the film has made me more aware of what is happening in the economy. Everyday, different things are happening in the market but most of us do not notice it. Each and everyone of us is part of a big spectrum in the economy. We participate in it through our spending. Without people who participate in the market, be it monopoly or perfect competition, there would be no economy. Our demands as consumers determine the amount of supply that the producers would provide.
Since there are different types of market, there are also different ways pricing. The monopoly has the greatest power in controlling the price like in gasoline and the least is the perfectly competitive firms like in “sari-sari” stores but in every changes in the price, all types of firms are affected that is why the government has to create ways to control or maintain the fairness of the competition through antitrust enforcement. The government has to protect the welfare of the people through creating laws and through participating in the economy.
If the government would just allow big companies to merge and become a monopoly, the people and smaller firms would suffer allot. So the government really has to weigh their decisions very well when it comes to this matter. If the government fails to make the right decision then people would create a strike and it would be very bad to the economy.
In the Philippines, the biggest companies are the oil companies. Rumors has been spread that these firms are performing as a monopoly that is why when they rise the price of the gasoline, they do it simultaneously thus affecting the prices of other goods. The people were badly affected by it specially the less fortunate ones. The government said they had investigations about this matter but there were no proofs found if these were true. All I can say though is that true or not, the government still must control the price for the sake of the people and for the love of competition. :D
