Cartel Theory of Oligopoly Essay

A cartel is defined as a group of firms that gets together to make output and price decisions. The conditions that give rise to an oligopolistic market are also conducive to the formation of a cartel; in particular, cartels tend to arise in markets where there are few firms and each firm has a significant share of the market. In the U.S., cartels are illegal; however, internationally, there are no restrictions on cartel formation. The organization of petroleum-exporting countries (OPEC) is perhaps the best-known example of an international cartel; OPEC members meet regularly to decide how much oil each member of the cartel will be allowed to produce. Oligopolistic firms join a cartel to increase their market power, and members work together to determine jointly the level of output that each member will produce and/or the price that each member will charge. By working together, the cartel members are able to behave like a monopolist. For example, if each firm in an oligopoly sells an undifferentiated product like oil, the demand curve that each firm faces will be horizontal at the market price. If, however, the oil-producing firms form a cartel like OPEC to determine their output and price, they will jointly face a downward-sloping market demand curve, just like a monopolist. In fact, the cartel’s profit-maximizing decision is the same as that of a monopolist, as Figure 1 reveals. The cartel members choose their combined output at the level where their combined marginal revenue equals their combined marginal cost. The cartel price is determined by market demand curve at the level of output chosen by the cartel. The cartel’s profits are equal to the area of the rectangular box labeled abcd in Figure 1 . Note that a cartel, like a monopolist, will choose to produce less output and charge a higher price than would be found in a perfectly competitive market. Once established, cartels are difficult to maintain. The problem is that cartel members will be tempted to cheat on their agreement to limit production. By producing more output than it has agreed to produce, a cartel member can increase its share of the cartel’s profits. Hence, there is a built-in incentive for each cartel member to cheat. Of course, if all members cheated, the cartel would cease to earn monopoly profits, and there would no longer be any incentive for firms to remain in the cartel. The cheating problem has plagued the OPEC cartel as well as other cartels and perhaps explains why so few cartels exist.

Disease Prevention Measures among African Americans Living in the United States Essay

My research explores race-based medicine. Specifically, my research will focus on what preventative measures are available for African American women living in the United States. Among minorities African American women have a higher number of health disparities; psychological and disease oriented. What percentages of minorities take advantage of preventative medicine? What percentage of African Americans are aware of resources made available to them? The growing number of obesity related diseases among African American women has increased more than 23% from 2010 (Nickens, H.W., 2006). Failure to use preventative measures has sparked much concern surrounding the implications and scientific evidence of race-based medicine. Race-based medicine focuses on the current system of public health services because now more than ever. Due to the increasing number of deaths within the African American community there is an expectation from the larger medical community on how to improve medical services that will work more efficiently for African American women. The concern about preventative measures among minority groups focuses on three things; 1) that it meets the needs of the individual, 2) that the service will be free at point of delivery and 3) that once service is received the individual will continue to utilize the service which will increase preventative measures for African American women. Preventative measures of obesity related diseases for African American women are lacking in several areas. Awareness about health systems and services offered are sometimes misinterpreted and therefore discourages African American women to utilize health information and facilities offered to the general public. References Anand, Sonia S. â€Å"Using Ethnicity as a Classification Variable in Health Research.† Ethnicity and Health 4:4 (2003): 241-244. Braun, Lundy. â€Å"Race, Ethnicity, and Health.† Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 45: 2 (2009): 159-74. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2006). Recommendations to improve preconception health and health care-United States. The Center for Disease Control, Morbidity and Mortality World Report. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2010). Obesity: Maternal and infant health research in pregnancy complications. Retrieved from website: http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/MaternalInfantHealth/PregComplications.htm Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2009, October 2). Quickstats: Prevalence of obesity among adults aged > 20 years, by race/ethnicity and sex-national health and nutrition examination survey, united states, 2003-2006. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5838a6.htm Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2011). Black or African American populations. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/omhd/Populations/BAA/BAA.htm Institute of Medicine (IOM). (2009). Weight gain d uring pregnancy: Reexamining the guidelines. Retrieved from The National Academy of Sciences website: http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2009/Weight-Gain-During-Pregnancy-Reexamining-the-Guidelines.aspx Nickens, N. W. (2006). Health Affairs: Health promotion and disease prevention among Minorities. Vol (9), no. 2: 133-143. Doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.9.2.133 Siega-Riz, A. M., King, J. (2009). American Dietetic Position Paper. Obesity, reproduction, and pregnancy. Journal of American Dietetic Association, 109 (4), 918-927. Stothard, K., Tennant, P., Bell, R., & Rankin, J. (2009). Maternal overweight and obesity and the risk of congenital anomalies: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA, 301(6), 636-650. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). (2011). Maternal, infant and child health. Retrieved from website: http://healthypeople.gov/2020/LHI/micHealth.aspx Weiss, J., Malone, F., Emig, D., Ball, R., Nyberg, D., Comstock, C. (2004). Obesity, obstetric complications and cesarean delivery rate: A population-based screening study. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 190(4), 1091-1097.

Conserve and Preserve Essay

With today’s growing population, resource consumption is becoming a huge concern. It is important that humans realize what is best for both our present and future generation, and what is best for our planet. We must preserve certain areas from being destroyed to keep their natural beauty. We should also conserve resources, so they can continue to flourish, but also so we can continue to live our lives without depleting these resources. Every individual unit of the environment works together to maintain a balance that supports the cycle of life. Humans must co-exist in a positive way with these units. We should live in a way that does not exploit any part of nature. We should not only respect and sustain the environment for our own benefit and for future generations, but also because nature itself is good on its own. When looking at preservation and conservation, there is not one that is better the other. Like many other rules and sets of standards, there are exceptions. Preservation is the action of protecting a certain thing or area completely. Conservation is a form of preservation, where we can use a particular resource or portion of land, in this case, but it is used sparingly and sustainably. There are certain situations where preserving something is beneficial. Then there are other situations where conserving something would be better for a larger number of living things. It would be ideal to say that we should strive to preserve nature in all scenarios but that is not a practical approach because there are certain needs that we as human beings have to fulfill that we can only get from nature. Certain medicines that keep people alive can be found in nature. If for instance a plant has the ability to save someone’s life, then it would be acceptable to cut that plant down to help heal the patient. There are some exceptions to this of course. It would be wrong to cut down the plant if it was unable to be replaced. The plant should be plentiful and able to thrive as a species before we use it to help our own species. For the most part, humans are put on a higher scale than some other species. This is not to say that we should disregard those species or over-use them, but if it came down to a life or death situation for a person, using the plant would be ethical. There are other scenarios in which preservation would be a better approach. An example of this is mountaintop removal. It does not seem ethical to be destroying such a beautiful object that forms naturally just so that we can have access to coal seams. The coal extracted from the mountain is only beneficial for a certain amount of time but the negative consequences from the whole process will be felt a lot longer (Copeland). Even though the mountain itself since it is not a living, breathing organism, it is important to respect the natural beauty of the mountain. The animals and plants that may reside on the mountain are also affected by this, and that should be taken into consideration. Another example of a time when it is best to preserve is in the case of an endangered organism. Say for instance that a certain tree is being cut down at an alarming rate to make paper. The tree will cease to exist if we continue at the rate that we are going. Then we should stop all chopping down of that particular tree. We should preserve it and allow it to continue to live, not just so that in the future we still have that tree around to produce more paper, but because it is a living thing that has value on its own. Our population is growing, and we have to figure out the best way to use our resources. Garrett Hardin also recognizes this as a problem in his essay â€Å"Lifeboat Ethics†, but takes the stance that if we help the poor people; we are hurting them in the long run. He believes that the biggest factor for overpopulation is the fact that poor countries multiply and increase their population at a much faster rate than countries that are predominately rich. Because of this, the problems associated with too many people in one area will continue to grow larger. This is because rich countries have the resources to support their people more so than the poorer countries that cannot even begin to help their people (Hardin). Getting food is a major concern of many people who think that overpopulation is becoming a problem. Hardin also recognizes this as a problem, but takes the stance that if we help the poor people; we are hurting them in the long run. Conservation becomes important when taking the population into consideration. Overpopulation will have a large impact on the environment because there will obviously be more of a need for basic elements such as water, food, and shelter. With more people demanding food, more livestock will need to be bred; more fruits and vegetables will need to be grown. With more people demanding shelter, more land will need to be plowed in order to build houses. With more people on the earth demanding water, more freshwater sources will be dried up. Not only are the necessities factored into the problem but with more people, all the luxuries and small things will add up also. There will be a higher demand of medicines, paper, and other goods that we can get from nature. The increase of human life will create a huge blow for the environment. It is important that we prevent our world from becoming a commons open to everyone, where people use their resources foolishly and greedily. Since people are part of the whole equation that makes up the environment, we should care and respect others. However, in feeding the poor, they do not realize their problems and continue to reproduce, thus putting them and the country in a deeper hole. This too has an effect on the environment because in the search for food, people do things that do not support a sustainable cycle. An example of this is the fact that since there are more people and getting meat to them is a long process, factory farms have taken the place of actual farms. Animals are now bred to grow faster and jacked up with hormones in an attempt to get them to the slaughterhouse faster so that the demands of consumers can be met. Also in order to keep up with more people, that means that there must be more animals to begin with. Livestock are crowded into small cages where they are unable to turn around, they are not able to live with their young, they pick up diseases and many other problems arise from this. This affects the life of the livestock obviously, but also affects the life of the consumer who then eats the meat. It is understandable that individuals want to eat meat because they say it tastes good, it is high in protein, and it’s convenient as well. However, the way that humans do it is immoral and wrong. We do not give the animals any chance of survival or even a chance at life to begin with. It would be more justifiable for people to go out and hunt their meat like people used to do. Then the animals would be able to live a normal life up until they were killed. This would also cut down on the air pollution that comes from factory farms, reduce the amount of water that is needed to produce meat, reduce the amount of crop space that is needed to feed the livestock, and reduce the amount of drugs that the consumer also eats after the animals are fed them. This brings the argument back around to the fact that the population is growing and that there are starving people all around the world. If reduced their consumption meat, then there would not be as big of a need for livestock. Thus the crops that are grown to feed the cows could be fed to the people who need it. We could also stop cutting down trees and destroying forests that is normally needed in order to make room for all that food that needs to be produced. Around the world 756 million tons of grain is fed to livestock and almost half of the 225 million tons of soy that is produced yearly also goes to feed the animals that we eat (USDA). These crops could be used to feed people in starving countries. It could affect the lives of people right here in America. Our population is growing very quickly and resources are becoming scarcer every day. We should want to preserve and conserve the natural world around us. Whether a person believes that another living thing has rights or not, they should still treat it with respect and care. One person or a small group of people should not make the ultimate decisions on what is considered worthy of life or unworthy. If people took the time to consider the feelings and consideration of the living things in nature, the world would be a better place not just for us now, but for future generations.

Adolescents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Adolescents - Essay Example Developmental crisis refers to the problems that a person runs into in the course of the natural maturation process that require intervention therapy. The events that trigger the developmental crises come about during the maturation process. Therefore, one should view individuals in light of their developmental history. Erickson proposes some stages of development and among them is the adolescence stage that has the crisis of identity vs. role confusion. During their time, people ask themselves who they are in reality (Kanel, 2012). There are various crisis intervention strategies to solve the arising developmental crises. For instance, the best method to employ in dealing with identity vs. role confusion crisis is counselling therapy. One should carry out an assessment of the crisis first and examine it basing on the development stage. In addition, the person should for those factors that actively contribute to the difficulty and the victim’s perception of the events that trigger the crisis. Counseling at this stage should reflect on the client’s struggle with the developmental issues. The counsellor should ensure that the clients take caution (Kanel,