The United States has a variety of regulations to address the economic harm resulting from monopoly power in an industry. This includes the Sherman Act of 1890, the Clayton Act of 1914, and the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914. These acts were aimed at restricting the formation of cartels and monopolies to protect consumers and ensure competition. The article The Oligopoly Problem argued that oligopolies fall through the cracks of these regulations and leave consumers unprotected from harmful business practices where industries are highly concentrated. Read the article and respond to the following in your initial post: What are examples of firms in an oligopolistic market that abuse their power? Explain how they abuse their power and describe the impact on consumers. Do you agree with the author's feelings about increased government oversight of such industries? Why or why not? In your response posts to peers, comment on your own experiences with such industries and on their impact on you. Additionally, discuss whether you agree or disagree with your peer's stance on regulation, explaining why

The Bureau of Economic Analysis provides profit data for various industries in the United States. Go to www.bea.gov Click on Corporate Profits Click on National Income and Product Accounts Tables Choose a table from a list of Selected NIPA Tables Scroll down and find the Table 6.16D (pg 134 in PDF) on Corporate Profits by Industry”

In your initial response to the topic you have to answer all questions:

1. Based on the most-recent figures, which of the following categories of industry classifications has the greatest profits: •Financial or nonfinancial •Manufacturing , transportation and warehousing, wholesale trade, or retail trade •Durable goods or nondurable goods

2.During the past years, which sectors had the largest and smallest percentage increase in profit?

3. Which sectors, if any, experienced losses?

4. What are the implications of the profit changes for expansion or contraction of the particular industries?

would you expect the United States to trade more with a) Mexico or Luxembourg, b) Japan or South Africa, c) China or Germany. Why? (Hint: Do not look up actual values here. Use a model we have studied). What if you found that based on the criteria you used, we trade with Ireland and Australia more than we expected. Why might that be?

Many groups across the United States feel as though they do not receive equity when it comes to health care. Think about the iron triangle: access, quality, and cost. For Veterans.

1. Describe the basic and unique healthcare needs of the population. For Veterans
2. Recommend ways (policies) to provide healthcare needs (address the iron triangle). For Veterans
3. Describe specific benefits to the population and the community by meeting the healthcare needs of this population. For Veterans

During October 1962 the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a stand off over the Soviet Union’s attempted deployment of nuclear missiles to Cuba. We will model part of the crisis dynamics as they looked on October 22, 1962 when President Kennedy announced the naval blockade of Cuba stating that Soviet ships carrying nuclear missile equipment would be turned back if attempting to enter Cuba. Consider this a sequential move game where the first mover Premier Krushchev can choose to retract (R) the ships or order them to challenge (C) the blockade. If Krushchev retracts, the game ends and it will be perceived as a political failure for Krushchev and a win for Kennedy with payoff 2 of (−1, 1), meaning a payoff of −1 to Krushchev and 1 to Kennedy. If Krushchev challenges the blockade, Kennedy will observe the challenge and now has an option to enforce (E) the blockade or to fold (F), the latter meaning letting the ships proceed to Cuba. If Kennedy folds the game ends, and Krushchev will deploy nuclear missiles to Cuba and achieve an improved strategic position, resulting in payoffs of (5, −5). If Kennedy enforces the blockade, the crisis will escalate with the distinct possibility of nuclear war ensuing. We will assign payoffs (−100, −100) to the act of enforcing the blockade. 1. Draw the extensive form game between Krushchev and Kennedy. 2. What are the pure strategy Nash equilibria of the game? Explain. 3. What is the subgame perfect Nash equilibrium of the game? Explain. 4. In reality, Kruschev retracted the ships. The following is an open ended question: In order to understand this action, how is it in your mind best understood given the previous analysis? Is the equilibrium concept not appropriate? Would you consider changes in the game? Etc...

1)What do you think was more important for manufacturing growth in the United States in the early period: supply or demand factors, or a mix of both?

2)Should U.S. public policy aim to raise population growth (through either a higher birth rate or increased immigration) back to the high population growth rates seen earlier in U.S. history? Why or why not?

3)Do you think the Homestead Act was optimal as formulated? Or should it have been expanded or shrunk or never passed? Why or why not?

In December 2015, Ames, Iowa, had the lowest unemployment in the United States at 2.2 percent of the workforce. At the other end of the scale was El Centro, California, with 19.6 percent of its workforce unemployed. In the depth of the 2008–2009 recession, the unemployment rate in Ames peaked at 5.7 percent. In El Centro, it peaked at 30.3 percent.

How would you explain the difference in the unemployment rates in Ames and El Centro in December 2015? Why is the difference almost certainly not explained by different cyclical unemployment rates?

In the United States, organ procurement organizations (OPOs), transplant centres, and the medical professions coordinate the organ donation process. The US government pays for this treatment through its Medicare program. What price should the US government pay for these organs from the taxes it collects from all citizens? Often multiple organs are removed from a single donor, meaning that there are joint costs such as operating room time, surgeons’ fee, and medications to preserve the organs.

The OPO insist all costs be allocated to each organ, irrespective of whether the organ is actually collected for transplant. For example, lung and kidney donations may be planned, but the surgeon discovers post-mortem that the lungs are not viable. A portion of joint costs will still be assigned to the lungs; otherwise, total costs of the donation would be assigned to the kidneys.

The payer, the US government, does not want to pay the joint costs assigned to the lungs. The Medicare program pays only for transplanted organs. Over 62% of all kidney transplant are paid for by Medicare. Six years ago, a government audit revealed that, of the total of $80 million in organ acquisition costs, $47 million were unallowed and unsupported.

Some organs, such as one kidney, part of a liver, part of a lung, bone marrow, and stem cells, can be recovered from live donors. The recovery of these organs requires major surgery and patients are anaesthetized. The surgeon ensures the donor’s organa are suffused with a protective chemical and removes the organ. The donated organ is preserved in a chemical and placed in a refrigerated container for immediate transport. The donor often recovers after two to five days in hospital.

In contrast, stem cells are recovered from live donors who receive medication to increase the number of stem cells in the blood for four to five days prior to the transplant. The process is similar to a blood donation. The stem cells are extracted from whole blood removed intravenously from the donor’s arm. The rest of the blood is returned to the donor while the stem cells are sealed in plastic packs, placed in a special container, and transported to the recipient. The donor usually returns home to rest for the remainder of the day before resuming normal life. The stem cells are injected intravenously into the recipient’s arm.

Required:

1. Of the reasons to use acceptable methods to allocate joint costs, which ones are relevant in this case?

2. What costs are incurred beyond the split-off point that differ between these two types of donations?

3. What would the separable costs be?

4. In Canada, where all medically necessary care is paid for from tax revenue, of what relevance is joint cost allocation?