156. The Hobbesian Jungle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_nature

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Hobbesian

More to come.

155. Cost curves of a firm operating under perfect market conditions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpamrD82Ny0

154.2 July 2016 Mancosa Eco 1A EXAM HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

https://sites.google.com/site/wealthcreationclub/survival-kit

Old Exam papers: https://sites.google.com/site/economicssa123/exam-paper-ec1a

YOU HAVE TO VIEW THIS VIDEO TO GET A LITTLE INSIGHT INTO THE COST CURVES OF A FIRM OPERATING UNDER PERFECT MARKET CONDITIONS

153. Monopolies

Example of how monopolies come into existenxce: The theory says: "The fixed cost of constructing a competing transmission network is so high, and the marginal cost of transmission for the incumbent so low, that it effectively bars potential competitors from the monopolist's market, acting as an early insurmountable barrier to entry into the market place." In reality however one will usually find that there are legislative barriers in place that prevents smaller independent power producers to generate and distribute power in competition to the monopolist. Why is this necessary if the first paragraph were true? ======================================================================= Monopolies (types: Natural Monopoly = When the average cost of production is still declining at levels of output that are greater than the demand.

WIKIPEDIA: “In small countries like New Zealand, electricity transmission is a natural monopoly. Due to large fixed costs and a small market size, one seller can serve the entire market at the downward-sloping section of its average cost curve.”

If this was true – why do they have laws in place preventing newcomers to enter the market?

Reasons for monopolies:

Economies of scale, limited scale of the market, exclusive ownership of raw materials.

Also we have market agreements (SABC, MTN – sports broadcasts), predatory pricing strategies

Then we have government intervention in the markets – patents, licensing, import restrictions

152. Why Africa is poor.

and what to do about it http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/dbp6.pdf

More solutions: http://www.oecd.org/derec/unitedkingdom/40700982.pdf WHY SOUTH AMERICA IS POOR

https://fee.org/articles/catholics-dont-have-to-be-commies/?utm_source=zapier&utm_medium=facebook

151. What to do to fix our economy

http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/2015/08/13/growth-focus-the-remedy-for-economy-biased-against-jobs

... a set of recommendations to increase employment in SA before a generation of South Africans grew up with little hope of ever working.

We suggested that all government policies focus on growth and that current efforts at asset redistribution in the mining and agricultural sectors are misguided, that the minimum wage is too high, that employers need more flexibility to hire workers, that state-owned enterprises be fixed (starting with Eskom) and that much more attention be paid to how legislation developed in Pretoria is implemented at the local level.

We also said that it is absolutely necessary to fix SA’s grossly underperforming educational sector.

Nor are business and labour left off the hook. We sense some collusion between big business and big labour around the high-wage economy.

Big business can cope with high wages by employing fewer workers and using more machines and robots, while big labour’s members benefit from high salaries.

The losers are small and medium-sized businesses that cannot change production mixes easily, and the unemployed.

BY JEFFREY HERBST AND GREG MILLS AUGUST 13 2015, 05:56

150. Study.com is wrong!

http://study.com/academy/lesson/capitalism-vs-socialism-differences-advantages-disadvantages-the-underground-economy.html This is what they say the advantages and benefits of Socialism is. • Great efficiency - Economic efficiency under socialism means that production decisions are controlled and regulated by the central planning authority towards a particular goal. • Greater social welfare - In a socialist economy there is less inequality of income because of the absence of private ownership of means of production. • Absence of monopolistic practices • Absence of business fluctuations - A socialist economy coordinates the action of various producing units, prevents discrimination between saving and investment and makes full use of available resources. Discuss.