6/23/2004

Oligopoly Today

Many of our fellow classmates are too young to remember Ma Bell and the baby bells (ie Pacific Bell, etc) in reference to oligopolies. But I think that we are all familiar with Las Vegas and the extravagant casinos housed there. I have found two blogs that talk about mergers of the casino business that may put oligopolies in a new light by using examples that are more familiar.
The first titled "A Safe Bet" in the Oligopoly Watch gives a great overview of what the merger or rather formation of the oligopoly entails and the other blog titled "Gaming Industry Consolidation" goes more in depth.
Hopefully these sites can help my fellow classmates and myself understand oligopolies.

1 comment:

Dr. Tufte said...

I like the example of casinos as oligopolies.

Oligopoly is a squishy term, and oligopolies themselves are most important to understand when they are able to price their wares above marginal cost. I'm pretty sure that casinos are able to do that.

Addresses that will take you straight to the articles are:
A Safe Bett and Gaming Industry Consolidation.