Is market power destructive? An undergraduate assignment using Adam Smith's criticisms of monopolies

Sara Bothun
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Sara Gundersen ()

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education, 2012, vol. 3, issue 4, 415-423

Abstract: This paper describes an assignment where students evaluate a current industry using Adam Smith's arguments against monopoly power. Using Smith's arguments, students write a paper describing whether they believe a current industry, such as the US cellular phone carrier industry, suffers from the problems Smith described in The Wealth of Nations. This assignment invites students to take ownership over a current issue while developing a deep understanding of monopolies. By using Smith's criticisms of monopolies, students will also see that economic 'truths' are complicated, even in the classic 'laissez-faire' text.

Keywords: teaching methods; pedagogy; undergraduate economics; Adam Smith; monopolies; economics education; monopoly power; monopolies; USA; United States. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=52678 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijplur:v:3:y:2012:i:4:p:415-423

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Parker ().