Monopoly
In April 2018 Google had an 86.3% global market share of the internet search engine market, Facebook had over 2.2 billion active users, Amazon had just announced global revenues of $178 billion and Spotify enjoyed over 40% global market share of music streaming services. Whilst they have created huge profits and employment, they have also created significant barriers to entry in their respective markets. This has led some leading economic and political commentators to question whether these huge internet and technological monopolies are in the public interest.
Evaluate the extent to which the strengths of significant monopoly power in internet and technological markets outweigh the weaknesses as regards to consumer welfare.
100 marks
To access the full mark range, you should be able to
demonstrate clear knowledge and understanding of monopoly power and consumer welfare.
clearly apply your knowledge to issues surrounding monopoly power in internet and technological markets (you may wish to use Google, Facebook, Amazon or Spotify as working examples, but are not restricted to only these firms). You may wish to consider the current growth of these firms and the nature of the markets that they operate in.
provide relevant and precise economic analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of extensive monopoly power on consumer welfare. You may wish to consider the different ways in which consumers may be impacted by such firms.
provide an evaluative judgement on whether the strengths of significant market power in internet and technological markets outweigh the weaknesses, or vice versa.
demonstrate effective study skills in the research and presentation of your work.
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the introduction should include:
background informations for context:
a thesis statement;
a reason for writing the essay;
an overview of how the essay is organised
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and the conclusion should include:
refer back to the title, the thesis statement and the main points
and summarise the main findings of the essay
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the reference list should be organized in alphabetical order
and a reference for the monopoly diagram is required
additional notes:
1- describe the characteristics of a monopoly market
2- draw a diagram of the equilibrium position
3- identify the profit maximizing position
4- explain the causes of monopoly power with examples of barries to entry
5- evaluate the strengths and weakness of a monopoly market to consumers and firms
6- explain price discrimination and describe the conditions that are needed for it to be an effective practice.
