Group Media Assignment - Essay Example

As a result, the oil and gasoline prices have plunged down significantly. The focus of the world has been on the United States since it is providing half of the total reserves that are to be released and the US government too has been proactive in justifying its decision; proclaiming that the move was not based on any political motives. Though this decision has faced a great deal of criticism from all corners, the US believes that the release would help in lessening the gap between demand and supply of oil.

The article is very appositely related to the concepts of Demand and Supply. Before the political explosion in Libya, the supply and demand of crude oil were relatively stable and a reasonable equilibrium existed between price and quantity, but as soon as the oil production in Libya cut down, the supply fell tremendously, whereas the demand remained almost unchanged. This led to a higher equilibrium price and lower quantity. Now, with oil being released by US and its allies, the supply would rise to counter the demand.

The current decline in oil prices is its confirmation. The reduction in the supply of crude oil from Libya can also be understood in terms of the effects of one of the Supply determinants, namely Number of Suppliers. Since the number of crude oil suppliers in the world are limited, so when Libya, which is one of the major suppliers, departed from the scene, the supply automatically plummeted. Moreover, the demand remained unchanged due to an important Demand determinant, namely Price of Related of Goods.

Since, crude oil has numerous complements whereas nearly no substitutes its demand never fell. (400 words) China Investigates Pricing by 2 Broadband Companies The article ‘China Investigates Pricing by 2 Broadband Companies’ by Barboza (2011) published in the New York Times reports about the monopolistic behavior of two of the largest government owned telecommunication firms, China Telecom and China Unicom. With regular grievances from customers that the two companies overcharge them and deliver comparatively low speeds for Broadband Internet, the National Development and Reform Commission has decided to examine whether the companies have violated the Antimonopoly Law.

Analysts believe that this enquiry has come about mainly due to consumer pressure because in China, the state has always supported oligopolies with little contest and huge profits. Li Qing who works as the deputy director of the bureau of price monitoring and antimonopolization at the National Development and Reform Commission reported the fact that combined revenues of Telecom and Unicom were $10 billion in 2010 and greater than 66% of the market share belonged to the two giants. Zhang Bin, a telecommunication expert provides a different view, saying that the government did try to create competition in the industry among a few major firms; however, the outcome was not as expected and the oligopoly continues to thrive.

The article pertinently relates to the concept of oligopoly. Since there are only two companies, Telecom and Unicom, involved in the oligopoly, hence, it can also be called a duopoly. These two giant telecommunication companies satisfy all the characteristics of an