The Impacts of Reverend Homer A. Barbees Speech in...

The fifth chapter of Invisible Man finds the Narrator sitting in chapel utterly entranced by the words of Reverend Homer A. Barbee, who engages the audience by beautifully eulogizing the life and death of the schools beloved founder many years before. After the speech the narrator says, For a few minutes old Barbee had made me see the vision and now I knew that leaving the campus would be like parting of the flesh (120). Barbee made the Narrator want to be a part of this vision more than anything, and even worse, he made him want something he couldn’t have. Yet, moments later, the Narrator ...hurried past the disapproving eyes of teachers and matrons, out into the night (121). This is a contradiction with his desire to be a part of this vision because he is running away from the very institution that’s supposed to make this possible. He also finds himself resenting the address in a way. Possibly because it was too much of what he wanted. One part of this reaction is c ertainly his not wanting to leave, but knowing he will be forced out. Yet, on another, as of yet undefined level the Narrator is for the first time reacting against the novels recurring theme of rhetoric as a manipulative device of power and control. The speech is more or less a positive reflection on the Founder’s life that tends to leave out any challenges. Or even evidence of perseverance through challenges, which would have seemed to give him ethos with his audience. The Narrator has been made to

Consumerism In Fight Club - 1485 Words

With our lives being revolved around materialism, consumerism may cause the destruction of one’s perspective on their contribution to society. This notion was exemplified by Chuck Palahniuk’s book Fight Club, which was adapted into a film in 1999 directed by David Fincher. In the plot of this film, the narrator is a gray-collar worker named Jack who formed an underground organization with his alter-ego Tyler which evolved into Project Mayhem (counter-ideology), where they practiced minimalism and challenged against large corporations that controlled the minds of society. As the movie progressed, Tyler demonstrated his own ideology and influenced Jack to act accordingly but as a result, he refuted parts of the ideology and consequently†¦show more content†¦Without these elements, one will find themselves in a frustrating situation and most likely to turn to becoming deviant. This is evident in a part of the film where Tyler operated a factory to make and sell so ap using human fat, demonstrating that deviance was the only choice for him to obtain the â€Å"American Dream†. In the film, the narrator believed that he wasn’t capable of escaping conformity himself which led the creation of Project Mayhem, where Tyler encouraged gray-collared working members of society to reject the society’s idea of success (American Dream) and replaced it with the ideas of his own. Essentially, Tyler created his own reality to escape the conventionalism. Social facts are patterned ways of acting, thinking and feeling that exist outside any individuals but exert social control over people. (Steckley 2017) There are 3 characteristics. It was developed prior to and separated from any individuals, a characteristic of a specific group and a constraining force that pushes an individual to act a certain way. (Steckley 2017) We can see advertisements and magazines as significant factors as social facts. The occurrence of role exit may have created the loss of masculinity. In the film, there was a moment where Tyler (figment of imagination) and Jack talked about how Tyler’s father left the family early and how the father was unable to answer Tyler’s curiosity. Tyler asks Jack What if God doesn t want you? What if you areShow MoreRelatedFight Club Consumerism Analysis1121 Words   |  5 PagesDavid Fincher’s Fight Club is praised by fans and critics alike as one of the most impactful representation of society in film. The film follows Jack, the narrator and main character, as he teams up with a newfound acquaintance named Tyler Durden to form an underground fight club for men who are bored of their mundane lives(Fincher 1999). As Durden becomes more of a dominant personality, Fight Club evolves to Project Mayhem, multi-celled secret society of oppressed gray-collar workers whose purposeRead MoreEssay on Criticisms of Consumerism and Materialism in Fight Club1134 Words   |  5 Pagesconsumerist criteria; seeking the false promise of the American dream. This is the reality presented in Fincher’s Fight Club (1999), one of â€Å"the rawest, most hot-blooded, provocatively audacious, dangerous movies to come of out Hollywood† (Morris, 1999). Through the diverging personalities of the films central characters, Fincher provides a satirical analysis and powerful criticism of consumerism, â€Å"echoing countless social critics who bemoan the emasculating effects of consumer culture on once self-definedRead MoreFight Club By Chuck Palahniuk1138 Words   |  5 Pagessociety is essentially powered by consumerism, capitalism, and the media; supplying people’s thoughts, behaviors, feelings, and lives. The psychological novel, Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk, uses a man’s need for a male role of identity to fit in into society as a way of showing how consumerism can be threatening a man’s identity and masculinity. P alahniuk explores the life of a man who in an attempt to break free of a capitalist society forms a clandestine â€Å"fight club† as a form of rebellion towardsRead MoreMasculinity As An Essential Merit Of Identity1740 Words   |  7 Pagesevery person has heard the quote â€Å"the first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club†, a line from a film that’s widely known for its mind-bending plot that’s a blend of dark comedy, psychological thriller, and drama (Linson Fincher, 1999). Despite its entertainment value, many fail to see the films in-depth social commentary on life in post-modern America. I saw that the film subtly skewers many aspects of life today such as consumerism, morality, organized religion, pop culture; andRead MoreFight Club Analysis1745 Words   |  7 PagesFight Club There is enough on earth for everybodys need, but not for everyones greed.† Mahatma Gandhi This quote fits perfectly on me. Even though I have enough clothes to last an entire lifetime, yet I keep finding myself at the mall, buying things I simple do not need at all. And I am not the only one, millions of people is doing the same thing. It is because we need certain things: we desire different certain things. Now what is that problem called? Consumerism. Modern society is basedRead MoreFight Club Movie Analysis Essay1501 Words   |  7 PagesKory Weener Film Review 2 Fight Club is a psychoanalytical film that addresses the themes of identification, freedom and violence. It acknowledges Freud’s principle which stresses that human behavior is the result of psychological conflicting forces and in order to analyze these forces, there needs to be a way of tapping into peoples minds. The narrator tells his personal journey of self-discovery through his alter ego and his schizophrenic experiences. The movie isRead MoreMovie Analysis : Fight Club 1423 Words   |  6 PagesFight Club (1999. Fincher. D), is a film about the alienation and search for self of the character known only as the narrator. The males featured within the film all partake in fighting each other in order to assert their masculinity and in turn find that sense of self. The narrator begins the film as an insomniac, but as the film runs on we actually come to see his personality has been fractured by the alienation that he experiences. It becomes evident that the narrator and the majority of malesRead More Analysis of â€Å"Fight Club† Essay1239 Words   |  5 PagesAnalysis of â€Å"Fight Club† For years David Fincher has directed some of the most stylish and creative thrillers in American movies. His works include: Aliens 3, Seven, The Game and Fight Club. Each of these films has been not only pleasing and fun to watch but each has commented on society, making the viewers think outside the normal and analyze their world. Fight Club is no exception, it is a multi-layered film with many subplots and themes, but primarily it is a surrealistic description of theRead MoreFight Club : A Marxist Lens1501 Words   |  7 PagesWritten in 1996, Fight Club expresses the issues of its time with Palahniuk using a Marxist lens to express the evils of capitalist society in relation to loss of identity in a society built on achieving relative gains with those at the top benefiting at the expense of those at the bottom. The 1990s was a decade of excess , where people became fixated on consumerism, which, characterised the period as one of social disconnection, recklessness and greed , de stroying moral values and widening theRead MoreFight Club By David Fincher1041 Words   |  5 Pages His mind was cuffed onto the desperation of consumerism. A man in David Fincher s film, Fight Club, has fallen into the world of materials and perfection. As he became a slave of common franchises around him, the narrator strived to get it all. However, no matter how many things he bought, never had he achieved the definition of satisfaction. People rely on profit and possessions to be happy, but does it really help? Fight Club carries philosophical messages about money and materialism to the capitalist

The Rise and Fall of Enron Free Essays

The meteoric rise and fall of Enron is one of the most notorious tales in the history of corporate America. Enron was the seventh-largest company in the United States in 2000 and ‘Fortune’ magazine had declared it as America’s â€Å"most innovative company† for six straight years; its share price had climbed from $ 10 a share in 1991 to over $ 90 a share in August 2000 while its revenue jumped to more than $100 billion. (â€Å"Rise and Fall of an Energy Giant†) No one could have predicted that before the end of the following year the â€Å"rising star† of corporate America would be filing for bankruptcy, shaking investor confidence to the core and signalling the end of the longest bull-run in the American stock exchange’s history. We will write a custom essay sample on The Rise and Fall of Enron or any similar topic only for you Order Now The ramifications of the dramatic collapse still reverberate in global financial and energy markets as well the U.S. courts, where a number of former Enron managers face serious criminal charges. This fairy tale rise and ignominious fall of Enron is the subject of this paper. The Pipeline and Energy Company: Enron Corporation was formed as a result of a 1985 merger of Houston Natural Gas (HNG) and InterNorth-a Nebraska based gas pipeline company. Kenneth Lay, CEO of HNG, became Enron’s first CEO and proceeded to make it the first nationwide natural gas pipeline. Enron soon became involved in in the transmission and distribution of electricity in addition to gas in the US as well as the development, construction, and operation of power plants and pipelines worldwide. Its profits were, however, modest as in those days, energy was a government-sanctioned monopoly. (Lindstorm) Taking Advantage of Deregulation: Things began to change as the gas and electricity sectors were deregulated by the early 1990s. Kenneth Lay decided to take advantage of the deregulation and hired Jeffery Skilling a young consultant with a banking and liability management background, in 1990-making him the CEO of a new division in Enron- the Enron Finance Corp. The duo proceeded to transform Enron from a ‘boringly predictable’ and regulated Gas Company into one of the largest energy traders in the US that would eventually dominate the trading of energy contracts and financial instruments known as derivatives. Trading Becomes the Mantra: As Enron’s revenues sky-rocketed in its initial forays into wholesale buying and selling of gas and electricity, Skilling was emboldened to extend the trading concept into almost any commodity that could be traded, i.e., futures contracts in coal, paper, steel, water and even weather. Taking advantage of the growing use of the Internet, Enron started Enron Online (EOL) in October 1999-an electronic commodities trading Web site that was hugely successful almost overnight. Skilling hired the brightest talent from the top MBA schools and turned them into high-flying traders with incentives to â€Å"eat what they killed.† (Thomas, para on â€Å"The Best, the Brightest†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) While the company grew rapidly through the 1990s, â€Å"some of the worst manifestations of its culture-obsessions with bonuses, the stock price and exotic accounting-were also growing, and out of control.† (Fowler, â€Å"Enron’s Implosion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) Enron did make huge profits for a short while due to highly volatile energy prices, and there was widespread perception in the company about the unlimited potential of online trade and technology innovations such as the broadband. Things started to change in the late 1990s. Other energy companies such as Dynergy, Duke Energy, and El Paso had entered the field of energy trading and the competition started to eat into the huge profit margins of Enron. Other factors such as falling energy prices in early 2001, the approaching worldwide recession and the broadband bubble burst began to work against Enron’s ‘dream’ run. The company, in the meantime, had embarked on a culture of cutting trading deals that had a momentum of its own that was hard to stop. Disregarding Ethics: Ethics at Enron was put on the back-burner as its corporate culture was focused on making â€Å"deals† and increasing Enron’s share value. Skilling was relentless in his push for creativity and competitiveness, giving rise to â€Å"a growth-at-any-cost culture,† overriding all checks and balances, and suppressing all voices of caution. (Fowler) Its ‘ethics’ was personified by Kenneth Lay’s exercising of his stock options and pocketing profits, even as he was promoting Enron shares as a bargain to employees. It was also reflected in the action of some Enron executives who pressurized a brokerage company to take action against a broker who advised some Enron workers to sell their shares. (Wee, â€Å"Corporate Ethics†) Dubious Accounting: It was hardly surprising, therefore, that several Enron resorted to â€Å"innovative† accounting practices to show inflated profits and hiding their losses. Under Andrew Fastow (Enron’s Chief Financial Officer) personal guidance, the company made use of thousands of Special Purpose Entities (SPEs), some of them owned by Fastow himself, to â€Å"park† its troubled assets that were falling in value, so that the balance sheet continued to show growing profits. Conflict of Interest: Despite serious accounting irregularities, no one was prepared to blow the whistle because of conflicts of interest of several key players. Enron’s auditor, Arthur Anderson was also its consultant and stood to gain from ‘seeing no evil’; Kenneth Lay was busy exercising his stock options before the share value fell. J.P. Morgan, while underwriting bonds for Enron, was involved in trading derivatives contracts with the company and had a substantial share in Enron stock. Andrew Fastow was making millions in profits by doing business with the firm through secret limited partnerships. As a result, although the fall of Enron when it filed for bankruptcy in December 2001 seemed stunningly sudden to most people, conditions for the collapse had been brewing for a long time. How to cite The Rise and Fall of Enron, Essay examples

Technologies Affecting Media Producers and Consumers

Question: Drawing on relevant research critically discuss how new media technologies have blurred the lines between media consumers and media producers. How has this phenomenon impacted on media audience research? Answer: Literature review This paper consists of details regarding the impact of novel technologies upon the relationship amid the media users and sellers. Also a critically review of all the media effects and theories have been done and even proper theoretical approaches reinforcing active spectators studies have also been taken into consideration. I would also discuss all the current studies that have explored media influence, looking into the methodological looms plus also observing many ways through which the media are asserted to have vast impact upon peoples life, understanding as well as relationship. In general, the study also focuses upon literatures within the fields of risks plus health, and also examines all the studies that have utilized creative procedures for researching media influence. The way through which media has influenced the relationships amid people and also buyer seller interaction plus the technologies through which lives of people are getting affected is even contextualized within this study. It must not be misinterpreted with an attempt to prove any straight impact that media has upon people. Instead, the intention here is to present paths of thinking regarding media influence as well as hopefully this will help readers to build a proper link amid findings and theoretical body. Introduction: With a nonstop development of the contemporary media technology, continually updated sources otherwise medium of communication plus increasingly rich types of interaction, mass media has almost always affected lives of people in every aspect. In present society and community varied forms of communications plus interaction activities have become essentials of peoples lives. As an instance, radio program named "Mars on Earth" which was reported in the year 1938, led to vast panic in United States and this sufficiently illustrates the above point of effect of enhancement within media and its technologies (Alic, 2002). TV, newspapers, radio, online news, e-newspapers, social networking sites and many other access several information which are a hit on the privacy of human beings but they have yet now become the most vital source of data and information intended for people towards understanding all about the society and the social media. Media has forever been an essential part of human life, all its coverage generally affects public's mood, as well as report of the people's viewpoint habitually leads trend of the public opinion. Since the nonstop spread of vital information for audience, media is even instilling relevant idea and concept to the audience in very subtle way, for affecting human attitude, and therefore to vast extent, towards changing the human view of world. Discussion: Change in the power dynamic world The propagation of internet actually has been sole catalyst that has been damaging within change of the power vibrant right from the marketers to the users. Through the use of internet, customers nowadays have attained entrance to the huge number of the data from the entire globe data which is ageless and critical as well as confirmable. In conjunction with merely a tick of the button customers can attain significant loom about firms plus all of their stuffs and services. They could also compare the products and even hunt for a lower priced goods, it enables them to even read reviews plus communicate with many other users regarding the product excellence utilizing the carry out, but they are even making as well as distributing them among others, permitting for unequaled exchange of data and information plus facts. Along with the explosion of the social media, like Face book, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, plus many more, users could access straight reaction regarding products be it goo d or even bad from many of their connections. Nowadays, a blog otherwise video made by a displeased customer could also become viral within merely few hours. Also extra impactful as compared to the action of the post is the reaction it brings out in all those whom it meets. Technology has provided the path to increase the conscious all the consumer (Weaver, 1980). Marketing Is Everyones Business Customarily, the term marketing actually has been tagged like one amongst four main operational fields of any commerce. Some others are operations, management plus finance. Moreover along with the marketings aims and role altering within late 1990s towards properly building up the customer relations, there has also been very ensuing alteration in the way through which overall operation gets observed internally in the corporations. In present date, marketing is documented as glue which binds the organization together. It is marketings sales predictions that assist the operations dual drivers that are vital at the play here. Initial is that customers today do not distinguish amid the customer service plus the product (Bulfin, Henderson and Johnson, 2013). Technology in reality has also integrated whole globe, placing this world upon every buyers tips to buy anything and everything and that too anywhere and everywhere. Because marketings position is towards building the user relation, a nd also because the feel points never only occur amid marketing segment plus patrons, some other segments also must get infused along with the marketing operation (Wadbring, 2014). Interactive Marketing With the traditional media opening these days and getting diseased through Web 2.0, marketers also are enforced to acquire a dissimilar loom to marketing operation. Knowing as well as accepting that the power of the message has not rested in medium, but instead in ways through which medium is utilized; most of the marketers have begun rebranding of their business, and also focusing all of their possessions upon building communicative relations with the users in the online societies instead of approaching all the media crusades. For initiators, the marketers are not lead by any such saying like, a good product would sell out itself. Knowing way in which internet has eased globalization, as well as the effortlessness at which patrons could source plus buy goods from anyplace and everywhere in the globe; marketers also have these days become extra vigorous, deliberately putting themselves at places where their consumers actually are situated within such digital globe. At such novel feel points, shrewd marketer also pay attention to his entire users, then gathers supplemented and personalized information, that he later controls to supply precious solutions and do never push any of his goods to the users. Current days marketer also understands and knows that the buyer is actually king plus that to carry on and survive properly marketers should attain a multi-channel system that would make them reach market in better way. As customers incessantly hunt for unmarked data and information, the marketers at the present are also faced with all the challenges of endlessly feeding the need plus performing so with the use of correct format, scope as well as tenor. Building unlock-source content also is very decisive to such approach, as it is also finding path to make sure that the messages are also syndicated as well as incorporated along with some other internet sites via links (Spielmann, 2003). A vital accompaniment of such loom is anticipation of the group customization of the content. Contrasting the traditional media which also sought to drive out consistent messages upon greatest numbers, the marketing within Web 2.0 phase has also been typified through personalized messages to the users. Using the technologies, like Ad Exchange as well as Demand Side stage, marketers could also ensure that all of their tailored messages get received by all of those for whom they are meant for (Chafetz and Valian, 1999). Because of ease plus frequency of the allocation of user as well as marketer produced content, marketers also are brand vigilantes, who are forced towards keeping an alert eye for the brand defamation through internet. Just like one superior review documented by any customer, that is shared with the connections in the online community could boost any brands status as well as customer base, similarly negative feedback which is offered by the users can affect the brand name badly (Schrock, 2008). Fundamental Shift Till date most convincing change of loom to the marketing operation is the move from the outbound kind of marketing towards the inbound kind of marketing. Also making out from the experiences attained from performing business in novel era of Web 2.0, firms also have recognized overwhelming benefits of pulling the customers to their goods and services, instead of pushing their good and services toward the customers (Roush, 2005). Also outbound marketing, explained by its persistence on the bombarding customers along with the messages all through print, television and also radio advertisements, plus those annoying and irritating telemarketing as well as spam messages on the email, are not merely costly, yet are basically no longer efficient. As also mentioned before, 217 million people in America have blocked the telemarketers from giving them any call at their homes and also today increasingly consumers are also avoiding television advertisements and commercials tremendously a gigan tic 86% as per the Guardian either through switching the channels or through purchasing the DVRs. The understanding of inability of the traditional marketing towards cutting it upon its own also has provided a path to the phenomena of pull marketing. Such a novel strategy and plan also provides tremendous advantages to the businesses (Mishra, 2014). Marketing that is inbound pulls the customers toward the brand through supplying a proper value laden goods as well as services, like the white papers, info graphics and also eBooks, plus many more that permit the marketers to make their way to the customers and users inner circle. Right from here the marketers could also massage requirements and needs of all of their customers as well as gain the privileged, personal data and information that these people can utilize to redefine plus specify all of their market sectors recognize valuable leads plus then create many personalized messages plus goods (Christensen and Morley, 2014). As the catalog is fed via sites such as Twitter, Orkut and Face book and the news aggregators like the Reddit.com as well as Digg.com; all its reach could also multiply creating its message viral. Via the social media plus internet, marketings attitude plus even its approach toward development of the advertisements in addition to the promotions also has changed tremendously. Those who actually remember the real 2013 Super Bowl also are reminded of hilarious Doritos advertisements, and both of these were crowd that was sourced via the Doritos. There also exists an issue of the cost, plus the path in which such a novel marketing loom affects bottom-line (Prospects of Scientific and Technological Advancement, 1960). Contrasting the traditional marketing of the outbound, Inbound, for the reason of its utilization of the digital technologies which permit for greater achievement and specificity also offers higher, quantifiable and recognizable returns, at much cheaper costs and also consumes much less time. Inbound Marketing has reportedly cost some 62% less on each lead than the outbound marketing. The utilization of the business intelligence and also predictive analytics, management systems, management of customer relation and many other software plus programs are all intrinsic in this novel marketing loom (Ross, 2010). Such technologies permit the firms to rapidly sort, analyze as well as translate variety of information as well as data that they access through increasing the touch points along with their users. Together with evolution of internet in addition to the digital devices which also allow rapid plus even reliable access to the portals, marketing loom otherwise approach, will definitely constantly to evolve and affect the world and the relation amid the buyers and the sellers (Fejes, 1984). Effect of media on media audience research Audiences today are very much capable of making all types of confrontation readings to preferred leading culture, continually changing it within the process like the elites trying to properly catch up as well as encircle masses into its crease once more. Fiske (1990) considers the instance of the jeans as a proper fashion item and says they make jeans and we modify them to appear trendier, so they respond again. Creating a proper cycle of the resistance by active audiences otherwise consumers as well as dominant classes makes things extra complicated. Researchers also continue, upholding that there does not exist any such thing like a homogenized public or audience, rather a set of pluralized populace and audiences that gets shaped from a diversity of the backgrounds (Napoli, 2012). They have also maintained that such multiplicity of the meaning that amounts to very semiotic democracy where public is culturally competent to not require media experts and do never ask any help from th em. This even goes further, as it can be also argued, as it attempts to say that actual denotation of any program can be completely diverse, not merely oppositional, negotiated, and otherwise dominant but also in many other matters (Orvis, 1978). Some researchers argument causes issues as well as problems for several media researchers because it only means that these people are approximately incapable of determining the way through which audiences think as well as behave. Indeed, people often have cited the reality that somewhat 80-90% of all the advertising plans and strategies do not succeed in carrying in an augmentation in the sales which even has led towards several people to enquire usefulness of the novel audience research (Fiske, 1990). Initially, there also appears to be very great pact of the backtracking plus shifting over the amount of meaning that should be allotted by audience and amount of text all amongst its leading roles with all disagreements for how far the audiences were understanding the texts via their own social backgrounds along with some pointing out the fact that several later studies backtracked in the textual analysis (Robinson, 2000). Morley also had an argument along with his contemporary named James Curran, who also questions novelty of the novel audience research plus thus how much this had to insert to discourse (King, 1998). We have definitely arrived to an age where media has absolutely been altered by leaps as well as bounds taking whole globe and in fact the total universe by the storm, touching rich as well as poor. In early phases merely those who were fortunate enough were capable to access plus get a peep to media world because money played very vital role in this filed and the task of money as well as fund was a big part. Few people also were not capable of affording any type of interactions and communications whether radio, television, or even telephone as well as several people also had to depend on the magazines and messengers to convey messages. This even was a job that generally took long time and sometimes years but today it are not a big deal and any message can be delivered to any part of the world in minutes and seconds. As it is known, media has very strong social as well as cultural affect and impact on the society. This even is predicated on their capability to accomplish a wider audience along with a very strong as well as influential message (Himelboim and McCreery, 2012). A phrase is also used like a source of explaining the way in which distribution of any message could often be extra important as compared to the content of message itself and the phrase is the medium is message". It actually is via persuasiveness of the media that messages in reality reach target audiences within no time. These also have been very influential media because they till date have been mostly responsible for properly structuring people's everyday lives plus routines. Also television broadcasting in reality has a vast quantity of control and management over content community watches plus times at which it also is viewed. In past years technology also has revolutionized the path people live in. The enhancements and advances as well as growth in the technology have never slowed into new millennium plus as they carry on going forward so must the people and world all around that actually keeps on changing (Morley, 2011). The pop culture also was innermost as well as managed by the large trans-national and translation media firms. This even got changed radically in past decade. With enhancement within the technology of internet like mobile internet plus the broadband populace also have extra entrance to several types of pursuits and data as well as information plus communication (Chung, 2007). With all such changes the form in which people interact plus use the media also has changed, though questions could be raised regarding the extent to which media influences this and has an impact on people (Lowenthal and Fiske, 1956). Conclusion: The study has mentioned that huge enhancement of novel media which is extremely troublesome for management and controlling of the relations of the buyers with their customers and also few things which even becomes apparent within this theoretical framework which also triggers the conversation of novel effects of media and impacts in the editorial. Provided structure also exemplifies that all novel media needs a proper move within the thinking of marketing and also that users even have turned out to be extremely lively partners and are nowadays plateful like consumers plus the producers and also the vendors, being sturdily attached with the system of many different consumers. Controlling the customer relations in phase of novel media also looks like the pinball playing, along with widespread data being obtainable on the brands as well as goods that can reproduce, yet also impede along with firms marketing the messages and advertisements like the bumpers do. In a nutshell here are all the details and information regarding the use of media and also the effect of media technologies upon the relation amid the buyers and the sellers. This study will provide the reader with full insight into the topic and will enable him to learn about several researches and findings as well as studies made by several researchers who have made efforts to study the fact about the changing trend of media field and development of new technologies. This will also help them to know how people manage their relations with the sellers in a world of constantly developing media technologies and how sellers cope up in such changing ecology. References Alic, J. (2002). Athena Unbound: The Advancement of Women in Science and Technology. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 69(9), pp.953-954. Bednarek, Z. (n.d.). Skills Gap: The Timing of Technological Advancement. SSRN Journal. Bruck, S. (1980). Must technological advancement be dehumanizing?. Biomaterials, 1(2), p.66. Bulfin, S., Henderson, M. and Johnson, N. (2013). Examining the use of theory within educational technology and media research. Learning, Media and Technology, 38(3), pp.337-344. Chafetz, J. and Valian, V. (1999). Why so Slow? The Advancement of Women. Contemporary Sociology, 28(1), p.42. Christensen, M. and Morley, D. (2014). New Media, New Crises, New Theories? An Interview With David Morley. Popular Communication, 12(4), pp.208-222. Chung, D. (2007). Profits and Perils: Online News Producers' Perceptions of Interactivity and Uses of Interactive Features. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 13(1), pp.43-61. Fejes, F. (1984). Critical mass communications research and media effects: the problem of the disappearing audience. Media, Culture Society, 6(3), pp.219-232. Fiske, J. (1990). Popular Narrative and Commercial Television. Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies, 8(2 23), pp.132-147. Himelboim, I. and McCreery, S. (2012). New technology, old practices: Examining news websites from a professional perspective. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 18(4), pp.427-444. King, E. (1998). Redefining Relationships: interactivity Between News Producers and Consumers. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 4(4), pp.26-32. Lowenthal, L. and Fiske, M. (1956). Reaction to Mass Media Growth in 18th-Century England. Journalism Mass Communication Quarterly, 33(4), pp.442-455. Mishra, S. (2014). Media convergence: Indian journalists' perceptions of its challenges and implications. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. Morley, D. (2011). Communications and transport: The mobility of information, people and commodities. Media, Culture Society, 33(5), pp.743-759. Napoli, P. (2012). Audience Evolution and the Future of Audience Research. International Journal on Media Management, 14(2), pp.79-97. Orvis, P. (1978). Media: Radio and the Third World. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 10(2), pp.48-49. Prospects of Scientific and Technological Advancement. (1960). Nature, 188(4753), pp.807-807. Robinson, P. (2000). World politics and media power: problems of research design. Media, Culture Society, 22(2), pp.227-232. Ross, P. (2010). Is there an expertise of production? The case of new media producers. New Media Society, 13(6), pp.912-928. Roush, W. (2005). The Creation of the Media: Political Origins of Modern Communications (review). Technology and Culture, 46(2), pp.417-418. Schrock, A. (2008). Examining social media usage: Technology clusters and social network site membership. First Monday, 14(1). Spielmann, Y. (2003). Elastic Cinema: Technological Imagery in Contemporary Science Fiction Films. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 9(3), pp.56-73. Wadbring, I. (2014). Review of Audience Research Methodologies. The Journal of Media Innovations, 1(2). Weaver, D. (1980). Audience Need for Orientation and Media Effects. Communication Research, 7(3), pp.361-373.

10 Fun Facts about Pepperdine University

Located in sunny Malibu, CA, Pepperdine University is home to those who love the beach and sun! Did you know that Pepperdine wasnt always located in Malibu? Or that Willy the Wave wasnt always their mascot? Check out these 10 fun facts about Pepperdine to learn more!1. Pepperdine University was named after George Pepperdine. He was the founder and president of the Western Auto Supply Company. 2. Remember the ABC Series â€Å"Battle of the Network Stars†, hosted by Howard Cosell? It was filmed on Pepperdine’s campus from 1976 to 1988. 3. Eric Christian Olsen, from NCIS: LA , went to Pepperdine University to study child psychology with the hopes of studying medicine before he got into acting.4. Pepperdine’s first mascot was Roland the Wave! 5. XOXO, Gossip Girl here. Word has it our favorite, Chase Crawford, attended Pepperdine to study broadcast journalism and marketing in 2003. He dropped a few semesters later. 6. The university tried to introduce a new mascot, Joe the Pelican, but didn’t last long because of the expense of caring for a live pelican.7. Did you know Pepperdine doesn’t have a football team? They had a team from 1946 to 1961 but ended the program. 8. The current Pepperdine mascot, Willy the Wave, was actually going to be renamed as King Neptune in 1996, but it never took off.9. Pepperdine has 11 NCAA Division I Team Championships in Baseball, Men’s Golf, Men’s Tennis, Men’s Volleyball, Water Polo and Women’s Beach Volleyball. 10. Major league pitcher, Jon Mascot, pitched for the Pepperdine baseball team in 2012 and 2012 until he was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds! Are you looking to apply to Pepperdineor just starting to build outyour college list? Make sure to search through profiles of students accepted to see essays, stats, and advice. See how they got in, and how you can too!

USTDA essays

USTDA essays After going to the Tradeport website, I have decided to do my paper on a US federal government agency. I explored a few of the agencies and decided to choose the US Trade and Development Agency. The US Trade and Development Agency (TDA) is a small independent agency. It is comprised of about forty-one people. The director is Mr. J. Joseph Grandmaison, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton. The TDA with the help of the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee works with the Department of Commerce, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and other agencies to advance American business interest in other countries. They are primarily involved in the agriculture, energy, environment, health care, information technology manufacturing, mining and mineral development, telecommunications, transportation, and water resources areas. This is the TDA Mission Statement: The U. S. Trade and Development Agency assists in the creation of jobs for Americans by helping U.S. companies pursue overseas business opportunities. Through the funding of feasible studies, orientation visits, specialized training grants, business workshops, and various forms of technical assistance, we enable American businesses to compete for infrastructure and industrial projects in middle-income and developing countries (1). The TDA funds project planning activities which directly influences the decisions related to major industrial projects. In other words, these are projects that represent millions of dollars in US export potential. TDA works to ensure that the services and products needed for projects will be stamped Made in the USA (How TDA Operates 1). An example of some of the goods and services are radar for airports in Asia and process controls for refineries in Latin America. The TDA is active in over forty countries throughout the world. Sometimes, however, statutory, and policy restraints eith...

Performance & Reward Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Performance & Reward Management - Case Study Example The presentation's color scheme and the text size plus the amount of information put on one slide are some attributes that give the presentation the look that is required in this case justice was done with all the attributes and this resulted in a successful presentation (Michael Alley. 2007). First I would like to discuss the positives of the presentation. Another important aspect of a presentation should be that it catches the eye of the audience and gathers the attention and this presentation did have this element in it (Garr Reynolds. 2007). The group members seemed to be very prepared and completely informed about what they were doing and how they had to do it. The ideas that were explained and depicted through out the presentation were of immense importance as they shaped up the mood of the audience and made the presentation effective. Defining every single idea to its best extent with the help of solid examples was one quality that was seen throughout the presentation. The second point that I liked about the presentation and the presenters was that the information they had in their mind apart from the one they had on the presentation was used at the proper places and situations throughout the presentation. The presenters were well informed about the organization and its operations they knew completely how the performance management system operated and supported the daily operations.

Org Theory & Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Org Theory & Management - Term Paper Example First and foremost, this paper shall provide an overview of FEMA, and then an overview of the human relations and administrative management theories. Secondly, it shall discuss how the theories shed light on any organizational or managerial dysfunctions occurring within the organization. A specific discussion for each theory shall be considered. Thirdly, this paper will consider the guidance that these theories provide for public management today, evaluating how any aspects of the theories can be considered irrelevant. Lastly, this essay shall conclude and end its discussion with a summary and final consideration of the main issues raised. This paper is being carried out in order to secure a thorough and improved understanding of organizations and how adjustments in management can be made with the end goal of ensuring quality organization performance. This theory is also known as the human relations movement and it refers to the groups of researchers who are studying organizational development and the behavior of individuals in groups, mostly in workplace groups (DuBrin, 2007). It was first seen in the Hawthorne studies in the 1930s which evaluated the impact of social relations, motivation, and employee satisfaction in relation to productivity. This theory considered workers in terms of their overall psychology and how they fit into the organization (DuBrin, 2007). In effect, this theory led to the creation of human resource management processes. George Elton Mayo highlighted natural groups, where social elements have priority over functional structures within the organization. He also emphasized upwards communication, one which is also two-way from the manager to the worker and vice versa (Bruce, 2006). Finally, Mayo declares that cohesive and strong leadership is important in the communication of goals and in securing

Employee Privacy Rights in the Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Employee Privacy Rights in the Workplace - Essay Example Many employees stealing from companies send the purloined data to their personal e-mail account held at home or on the web. 21 percent burned the information onto CDs." Due to these technological security issues, employers feel the need and have the capability to monitor their employees. E-mails, voice mails, the Internet, telephones, computers, etc. can be use for unregulated monitoring. Employees say this is an invasion of their privacy. Companies say this is a protection of their assets. The law is not clear on whether companies are invading employees' privacy rights regarding information technology so policies must be set and employees must be informed on what is considered to be an invasion of company confidentiality or employee privacy rights. In cases of lawsuits and investigations of regulations, instant messages and e-mail messages are used as the main source of evidence. However, according to the 2004 Workplace E-mail and Instant Messaging Survey, "employers remain largely ill-prepared to manage e-mail and instant messaging risks." It is still not common for businesses to have policies set regarding information technology. Studies have found that 35 percent of companies have any policies set in place and a mere six percent of businesses save electronic business records. However, among those businesses that do "The failure to properly retain e-mail and IM reflects employers' failure to educate employees about e-mail and IM risks, rules, and policies. The fact that 37% of respondents either do not know or are unsure about the difference between an electronic business record that must be retained, versus an insignificant message that may be deleted, suggests that employers are dropping the ball when it comes to effectively managing e-mail and IM use." Company data is not the only thing that is at risk when policies are not in place and implemented. Employee bank account information, social security numbers, contact information, and other confidential information should also be a responsibility of the company's. Grifing (2006) lists that "8,500 FedEx employees had their W-2 forms and salaries inadvertently exposed" and that is regarding just one company alone. Companies can now collect employee genetic information in order to read further into the employees to determine whether or not he or she will perform well on a job and other information. Gahtan (1997) reports, "Employers may also find that they could be held liable for e-mail or Internet-related activities of their employees. In most cases, employee e-mail or Usenet postings carry the employer's name or trade mark as part of the employee's e-mail address. Defamatory, political or religious statements sent outside the company by employees may therefore be attributed to the emp loyer." Employers also have an obligation to provide a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. Inappropriate material circulated internally can create a problem. A subsidiary Employee Privacy Rights 4 of Chevron Corporation settled a

Input Subsystems Three Input Subsystems Commerce Essay

Input Subsystems Three Input Subsystems Commerce Essay Human resources intelligence subsystem This subsystem has the responsibility for keeping current on environmental activities that are especially important to human resource activities (McLeod and Anctis, 1995). Data and information are gathered describing activities of the government, labour unions, suppliers, the local and financial communities, and even competitors (McLeod and Anctis, 1995). Employment firms function as suppliers, funnelling applicants to the firm. Applicants can also come from the local community and from competitors (McLeod and Anctis, 1995). The financial community provides data and information concerning the economic climate, which influences the human resource plans (McLeod and Anctis, 1995). Much of the intelligence data can be obtained from commercial databases (McLeod and Anctis, 1995). The HRIS database All of the data and information provided by the input subsystems is held in computer storage (McLeod and Anctis, 1995). The storage units can reside in IS, HR, or other locations (McLeod and Anctis, 1995). The data relates primarily to the firms employees, but also can describe the environmental elements with which HR interfaces (McLeod and Anctis, 1995). Database management system (DBMS) software performs the maintenance processes (McLeod and Anctis, 1995). HRIS Database consists of number of databases such as employee database, executive search firm databases, university databases, employment agency databases, public access databases, corporate job banksà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc. Output subsystems The output subsystems consist of various types of software that transform data in the database into information outputs. The software can include report writers, mathematical models, office automation packages such as e-mail and desktop publishing, and applications of artificial intelligence such as expert systems. According to the model, the output subsystems represent the six groups of HRSP applications. 54 Workforce planning subsystem is one of the output subsystems in HRIS model, which enables the manager to identify future personal needs (Figure 2.6). It facilitates organisation charting, salary forecasting, job analysis or evaluation, planning and work force modelling. Recruiting output subsystem enables applicant tracking and internal search. Workforce Management output subsystem work on performance appraisal, training, position control that ensures headcount does not exceed budgeted limits, relocation, skills or competency measuring, succession planning and disciplinary. Compensation output subsystem works on merit increases, payroll, executive compensation, bonus incentives and attendance. Benefits output subsystem defined contribution, benefits and claims processing. Environmental reporting output subsystem work on reporting firms personnel policies and practices to the government. Reports like union increases, health records and toxic substance produce through this system. The model (Figure 2.6) provided a good framework of HRIS components. It followed the three main concepts of system: inputs, processes, and outputs addressing the wide variety of HRIS applications as well. According to McLeod and Anctis (1995), the HRIS has provided strong support in the compensation and benefits areas, but other activities that occur during employment demand greater attention. For example, little attention has been directed at activities relating to organizational exit, or termination. Many firms have neglected applications for workforce management and recruiting. They further emphasised, if HRIS resources were aimed at building strong planning systems, up-to-date HRIS databases, and responsive information output systems, then the HRIS would support management in each of its workforce-related activities. This direct management support would contribute to the firms strategic objectives, whatever they might be. As the HRIS does a better job of providing management with in formation about people and their jobs, it will solidify its position in the firm as a valued information system (McLeod and Anctis, 1995). 55 2.4.6. HRIS Model McLeod and Schell Data Information Transaction processing system Human resources research subsystem Human resources intelligence subsystem Internal sources Environmental sources Input subsystems Output subsystems Users HRIS Database Recruiting subsystem Environmental reporting subsystem Compensation Subsystem Workforce management subsystem Work force planning subsystem Benefits subsystem Figure 2.7: A model of a human resource information system Source: McLeod and Schell, 2007 McLeod and Schell slightly modified the Resource-Flow HRIS Model in 2007 (Figure 2.7). The data processing sub system was named as transaction processing sub system. 56 2.5. Human resource strategy Thomas (1996) defined human resources strategy as a co-ordinated set of actions aimed at integrating an organisations culture, organisation, people and systems (Figure 2.8). He articulated human resources strategy as the cohesion and consistency of a distinctive pattern of behaviour. Its relationship to the corporate strategy determines its effectiveness and success. Figure 2.8: HR strategy Source: Thomas, 1996 IT Marketing Finance Sales Production R D Corporate strategy Human resources mission statement Human resources analysis Environmental analysis Organisation analysis Human resources planning Generation of strategic options/choices Objectives Culture Organisation People Systems Human resources functional action plan Implementation Review and evaluation HR strategy aids the organisation to achieve strategic goal in the medium to long term. It should emanate clearly from corporate business strategy aligning with organisational other plans and strategies (Figure 2.8). 57 The human resources function in todays organisation needs to think of itself as a business-operating unit, employing exactly the same marketing, technical and quantitative skills as those, which are employed, by other functions (Thomas, 1996). Figure 2.9: Human resources strategy planning Source: Thomas, 1996 HR strategic plan is influenced by four dimensions: culture, organisation, people and systems (Figure 2.9). Organisation structure, job roles and reporting lines should integrate with employee skill levels, staff prospective and management capabilities. Culture, which is key aspect of the organisational, is belief, value, norms and style. Organisation culture its measurement, monitoring and management provides the potential to enhance organisational performance (Thomas, 1996). Systems can be manual as well as computerised processes used to carry out the tasks within the organisation. Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) or Human Resources Management Systems (HRMS) play leading role in computerised HR Systems. Therefore, HR strategy plan should not only be inline with corporative business plan but also with organisational Information Systems strategic plan. The structure job roles and reporting lines of the organisation The process by which things get done in the organisation The skill levels, staff potential and management capability of the organisation The beliefs, values, norms and style of the organisation Generation of strategic Options Choices Organisation Systems People Culture HR policies and objectives 58 2.7. Conclusion Organisations use Information Systems in all three levels of information management: strategic, tactical and operational. HRIS is one of the information systems out which transforms the role of the HR department incorporating records for employee resource, rewards, training, etc. Many studies cited HRIS benefits, such as improvements in accuracy, cost saving, timely and quick access to information through HR reports, decision-making and increased competitiveness. Lack of top management support, funds, HR knowledge of system designers and HR solutions, are the main factors keeping organisations away from HRIS. According to literature, human resource planning, recruiting, and training are less frequent users within personnel perhaps reflecting greater use of the system for routine reporting than for decision support. HRIS is classified in to two types according to their usage: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢unsophisticatedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬- and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢sophisticatedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬-. Payroll and ben efits administration, employee absence records keeping electronically are listed as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢unsophisticatedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬-. Use of IS in recruitment and selection, training and development, HR planning and performance appraisal, is classified as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢sophisticatedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬-. Many researches were curious about the integration of HRIS with other emerging technologies such as MIS, ERP, eHRà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc. Due to the advent of Internet technology and the emerging concept of business intelligence HRM systems have changed to e-HRM systems. It is very hard to give a clear-cut view to distinguish eHR from HRIS since HRIS developed with most of the eHR features today. According to Alvarez-Suescun (2007), firm size or technical skills do not affect organisational sourcing decisions. The HRIS implementation sourcing decision may be influenced by previous experiences in the implementation of other systems and strategic contribution of the IS on the internal organization . According to some literature organisations gain competitive and strategic advantage if HRIS activities are undertaken internally. HRIS facilitates training and development and recruitment and section processes of the organisations. The training and development function is essential for changing behaviour and culture and reinforcing the new behaviour and culture in an organisation. 59 The training process consists of four phases. The first phase is the training needs analysis (TNA). The second phase is the design phase. The third phase is the implementation phase and the training evaluation is the final phase. HRIS mainly facilitate TNA and training evaluation phase. Succession planning which is facilitated by HRIS helps to identify key players in the organisation and develop them for future demand. Recruitment represents one of the core staffing activities that need to be planned efficiently and effectively. Pattanayak (2000) identified four sub functions: determining the nature of the job to be filled, type of personal required, sources of recruitment and selection process. HRIS facilitates all four of those sub processes using its job analysis, skill inventory and E-recruitment features. In the Sri Lankan context, literature relevant to HRIS, training and development and recruitment and selection cannot be found. Especially, how HRIS contributes to HR panning t hrough training and development and recruitment and selection is yet being studied. The systematic development of HRIS models is studied through the literature review. The first conceptual framework is the Hyde-Shafritz Model, which listed the modules as sixteen inputs and outputs presented in 1977 by Albert C. Hyde and Jay M. Shafritz. The Simon Input/Data Maintenance/Output Model was submitted in 1983 by Sidney H. Simon. It represented HRIS in terms of input, maintenance, and output functions. The Manzini-Gridley Hardware Network Model was presented in 1986 by Andrew Manzini and John D. Gridley. They viewed the HRIS in terms of interfaces with a corporate human resources database. The Fisher, Schoenfeldt, and Shaw Application Modules presented in 1990 by Cynthia D. Fisher, Lyle Schoenfeldt, and James B. Shaw identifying nine major application areas of the HRIS. The most recent and comprehensive model was a resource-flow HRIS model, which was presented by HRSP (Human Resource Syste ms Professionals) and McLeod and Anctis in 1995. Same model was presented with some miner changes by McLeod and Schell in 2007. This was more advanced than earlier models. There was some amount of focus to embed artific

Religious Roles in The Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano Essay

Religious Roles in The Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano The narrative of Olaudah Equiano is truly a magnificent one. Not only does the reader get to see the world through Equiano's own personal experiences, we get to read a major autobiography that combined the form of a slave narrative with that of a spiritual conversion autobiography. Religion may be viewed as at the heart of the matter in Equiano's long, remarkable journey. Through Equiano's own experiences, the reader uncovers just how massive a role religion played in the part of his Narrative and in that of his own life. More specifically, we learn of how his religious conversion meant a type of freedom as momentous as his own independence from slavery. As one reads his tale, one learns just how dedicated he his to that of his Christian faith; from his constant narration of the scriptures to the way that Equiano feels a growing sense of empowerment from the biblical texts for the oppressed community. However, at the same time, one may question Equiano's own Christian piety. D id Equiano really seek to tell the tale of his soul's spiritual journey, did he really believe God would set him free or was he simply using religion as a ways of manipulating British and American readers to accept him as a credible narrator. Regardless of which of these facts is true, religion is quite possibly the defining feature of his life story. Equiano's own exposure of Christianity first began when he was no older than 12 years old and was first arriving in England, where he experienced the sight of snow for the first time. Curious to what it was, he asked a mate and soon found out that "…a great man in the heavens, Called God…" [Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrati... ...he bruised, which our Savior speaks of, who are they?" (Equiano, 124) Undeniably there is no doubt that religion played a major role in Equiano's own life and in his Narrative. No matter what you believe about Equiano's own Christian piety, there is no question that his religious conversion (at the very least) gave him a type of freedom of tranquility that was as vital to his heart, as his own manumission from slavery brought him. Just as Equiano himself mentions about his life and all the events that occurred in it; "…what makes any event important, unless by its observation we become better and wiser, and learn ‘to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God?'" (Equiano, 253) Bibliography Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. Edited by Angelo Costanzo. Orchard Park, NY: Broadway Literary Texts, 2004.

Is Competition Good

Review of Industrial Organization 19: 37–48, 2001.  © 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 37 Is Competition Such a Good Thing? Static Ef? ciency versus Dynamic Ef? ciency MARK BLAUG University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Abstract. This paper addresses the rationale for antitrust legislation. It is a striking fact that the legitimacy of antitrust law has been taken for granted in the United States ever since the Sherman Act of 1890 and, until the advent of the so-called Chicago School, it was even taken for granted by conservative American economists. Europeans, on the other hand, have always been lukewarm about legal action against trusts and cartels and this attitude is found right across the political spectrum in most European countries. Nevertheless, in both the U. S. A. and Europe, the ultimate justi? cation for antitrust law derives from economic doctrine regarding the bene? cial effects of competition. But what exactly are these bene? cial effects and how secure is the contention of economists that competition is always superior to monopoly? Surprisingly enough, competition, that central concept of economics, is widely misunderstood by many economists, both as a market phenomenon and as an organizing principle of economic reasoning. I. A Little History of Thought I begin by drawing what I believe is a fundamental distinction in the history of economics, as far back as Adam Smith or even William Petty, between two different notions of what is meant by competition, namely, competition as an end-state of rest in the rivalry between buyers and sellers and competition as a process of rivalry that may or may not terminate in an end-state. In the end-state conception of equilibrium, the focus of attention is on the nature of the equilibrium state in which the contest between transacting agents is ? nally resolved; if there is recognition of change at all, it is change in the sense of a new stationary equilibrium of endogenous variables in response to an altered set of exogenous variables; but comparative statics is still an end-state conception of economics. However, in the process conception of competition, what is in the foreground of analysis is not the existence of equilibrium, but rather the stability of that equilibrium state. How do markets adjust when one equilibrium is displaced by another and at what speed will these markets converge to a new equilibrium? But, surely, all theories of competition do both; existence and stability are tied up together and to study one is to study the other? By no means, however; it is easy to show that, for centuries, competition to economists meant an active process of jockeying for advantage, tending towards, but never actually culminating in, an 38 MARK BLAUG equilibrium end-state. Only in 1838, in Cournot’s Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth was the process conception of competition totally displaced by the end-state conception of market-clearing equilibria. At ? rst this did not succeed in wiping the slate entirely clean of an interest in competitive processes but in the decade of the 1930s – those years of high theory as George Shackle called them – the Monopolistic Competition Revolution and the Hicks-Samuelson rehabilitation of Walrasian general equilibrium theory, forti? d by the New Welfare Economies, succeeded in enthroning the end-state conception of competition and enthroning it so decisively that the process view of competition was virtually buried out of sight. Let me elaborate. It is a striking feature of the language of The Wealth of Nations that the term â€Å"competition† invariably appears with a de? nite or inde? nite article preceding it: â€Å"a competition between capitals†; â€Å"the competi tion with private traders†, and so forth. For Smith, competition is not a state or situation, as it is for Cournot and for us, but a behavioural activity; it is a race – the original sense of the verb â€Å"to compete† – between two or more individuals to dispose of excess supply or to obtain goods available in limited quantities. What we nowadays call competition or the market mechanism was for him â€Å"the obvious and simple system of natural liberty†, meaning no more than an absence of restraints or ree entry into industries and occupations. Neither competition nor monopoly was a matter of the number of sellers in a market; monopoly did not mean a single seller but a situation of less than perfect factor mobility and hence inelastic supply; and the opposite of competition, was not monopoly, but co-operation. Producers in The Wealth of Nations treat price as a variable in accordance with the buoyancy of their sales, much like enterprises in modern theories of imperfect competition. This was not a conception invented by Smith because by 1776, competition had long been analyzed by a whole series of eighteenth century authors as a process which brings temporary â€Å"market† prices into line with cost-covering natural prices, those â€Å"natural† prices were indeed â€Å"the central price, to which the prices of all commodities are continually gravitating†, and in saying that Smith invoked Newtonian language to dignify a conception of price-determination that had a long tradition going back to the seventeenth century. To obtain that end-state in which market prices equal natural prices and the rate of pro? is equalized between industries, there had to be a considerable number of rivals, possessing common knowledge of market opportunities; they had to be free to enter and exit different lines of investment; but that was all and even that much was never spelled out explicitly as necessary prerequisites for competition – only once did Smit h ever mention the number of rival ? rms involved in competition. It was Cournot who ? rst had the notion of sellers facing a horizontal demand curve when their numbers become so large that none can in? uence the price of their own product. Competition, which once meant the way in which ? rms take account of how their rivals respond to their actions, now meant little more than the slope of the average revenue curve depriving ? rms in the limit of any power to make the price. Thus was born, decades before the Marginal Revolution of the 1870s what IS COMPETITION SUCH A GOOD THING? 39 one writer has wittily called â€Å"the quantity theory of competition† (quoted in Blaug, 1997, p. 68). Edgeworth’s Mathematical Psychics (1981) followed Cournot in providing all the trappings of the modern de? nition of perfect ompetition in terms of a large number of sellers, a homogeneous product, perfect mobility of resources and perfect knowledge on the part of buyers and sellers of all alternative opportunities. However, Marshall’s treatment of the competition always carefully labelled as â€Å"free competition† was much closer to Smith’s â€Å"simple system of natural liberty† than to that of C ournot and Edgeworth’s perfect competition. Even Walras hesitated to follow Cournot to the letter. Indeed, it was not until the 1920’s that the modern textbook concept of perfect competition was ? ally received into the corpus of mainstream economics, largely due to the impact of Knight’s classic, Risk, Uncertainty and Pro? t (1921). But it is doubtful whether the idea was in fact fully accepted in 1921 and a good case can be made for the thesis that it was Robinson and Chamberlain a decade later who hammered down the theory of perfect competition in the very process of inventing imperfect and monopolistic competition theory (Machovec, 1995). The replacement of the process conception of competition by an end-state conception, which was ? alized in 1933 or thereabouts, drained the idea of competition of all behavioural content, so that even price competition, the very kernel, of the competitive process for Adam Smith, David Ricardo and John Stuart Mill now had to be analysed as â€Å"imperfect† competition, a sort of deviation from the norm. Indeed, every act of competition on the part of a businessman was now taken as evidence of some degree of monopoly power, and hence a departure from the ideal of perfect competition, and yet pure monopoly ruled out competitive behaviour as much as did perfect competition. II. Perfect Competition, the Unattainable Ideal All I have said so far merely reiterates what Schumpeter said in 1942 and Hayek repeated in 1949: â€Å"perfect competition is not only impossible but inferior, and has no title to being set up as a model of ideal ef? ciency†; â€Å"what the theory of perfect competition discusses has little claim to be called ’competition’ at all and its conclusions are of little use as guides to policy† (quoted in Blaug, 1997, p. 69). But this message, delivered over a half-century ago, fell on deaf ears and the endstate theory of perfect competition is more ? mly in the saddle today than it ever was in the 1940s when Hayek and Schumpeter, not to mention John Maurice Clark (1949, 1961), were writing. And why? The answer is simple: it is that most of us were taught that although perfect competition is rarely if ever attained, nearly-perfect competition is said to be observable in some markets (agricultural markets being a favour ite example) and these approximations to the state of perfect competition somehow replicate many 40 MARK BLAUG f the desirable characteristics of perfect competition; in a word, second-best is so nearly ? rst-best that we may indeed employ ? rst-best as a standard. Open any textbook and what do we ? nd? The concept of perfect competition is said to be like the assumption of a perfect vacuum in physics; descriptively inaccurate, to be sure, but nevertheless productive of valid insights about actual economies. Thus, Samuelson and Nordhaus (1992, p. 295) in the 14th edition of their Economics concede that a perfect and absolutely ef? ient competitive mechanism has never existed and never will â€Å"but the oil crisis of the 1970s† is only one of their many examples of how an empirically empty competitive model can nevertheless produce the right answers to a concrete imperfectly competitive situation (for other textbook treatments, see Blaug, 1997, pp. 69–70). This is prec isely what Reder (1982, p. 12), called the notion of â€Å"tight prior equilibrium†, which he thought was characteristic of the Chicago School of Economics: â€Å"one may treat observed prices and quantities as good approximations to their long-run equilibrium values†. Call this the good-approximation assumption. Unfortunately, the idea of a near or far approximation to perfect competition has absolutely no logical meaning. We seem conveniently to have forgotten the famous Lipsey–Lancaster (1996) second-best theorem published in 1956, according to which we are either at a ? rst-best optimum or it matters not whether we are at second-best or tenth-best because we cannot rigorously demonstrate that doing away with a tax or a tariff that put us at tenth-best will bring us closer to ? st-best in a welfare sense of these terms. This theorem has not been conveniently forgotten; it has been deliberately forgotten because it wreaks havoc with the end-state, ? rst-best conception of competition. Must we therefore cease to give advice on competition policy? I think not; but what it does mean is that instead of gnostic pronouncements about the desirability of any move in the direction of ? st-best perfect competition, we must engage instead in qualitat ive judgements about piecemeal improvements, embracing a dynamic process-conception of competition, which is precisely the old classical conception that Schumpeter, Hayek, Clark and modern neo-Austrians have urged us to adopt. To grasp why it was necessary to revive this tradition, we must spend a moment explaining why modern price theory is so strong on the nature of the competitive equilibrium end-state and so weak on the process by which competition drives a market towards a ? al equilibrium. III. The Awful Legacy of General Equilibrium Theory When Walras literally invented general equilibrium (GE) in 1871, he was just as much concerned with the process-conception of competition known as â€Å"the stability problem† as in what we have called the end-state interpretation of equilibrium known as â€Å"the existence problem† – is simultaneous multimarket-equilibrium possible in a capitalist economy? But gradually, in successive editions of his Elements of Pure Economics, the existence problem came ever more to the fore, while the sta- IS COMPETITION SUCH A GOOD THING? 41 bility problem receded in the background (Walker, 1996). Even so, Walras’s view of how markets adjust in disequilibrium was always somewhat naive. It is a story which we all learn in our ? rst course of economics: in response to the appearance of excess demand and supply, prices adjust automatically as independently acting buyers and sellers â€Å"grope† their way to a ? al equilibrium. When this tatonnement story is well told, it sounds utterly convincing and at such times we are apt to forget that many markets, particularly labour markets and â€Å"customer markets†, react faster in terms of quantities than in terms of prices (as Marshall always insisted in opposition to Walras) and sometimes only in terms of quantities (see Blaug, 1997, pp. 71–75). But prices and quantities aside, what about product ifferentiation and competition by maintenance and service agreements, what about Schumpeterian competition in terms of new products and processes, new methods of marketing, new organizational forms and new reward structures for employees? In short, all the forms of rivalry between producers which Chamberlain and Robinson have taught us to call monopolistic or imperfect competition (the irony of calling what cannot exist, perfect competition, and what always exists, imperfect competition, never ceases to amuse me! . Walras struggled manfully to provide a rigorous solution to the existence problem but never got much beyond counting equations and unknowns to ensure that there were enough demand and supply equations to solve for the unknown equilibrium prices and quantities in the economy. As for the stability problem, he solved that after much hesitation by simply eliminating disequilibrium transactions as â€Å"false trading† (another wonderfully ironic piece of rhetoric). Although he never mentioned the concept of a ? tional auctioneer announcing different prices until an equilibrium price is discovered, whereupon trade is allowed to take place – this is one of those historical myths that subsequent generations have invented – it is dif? cult to avoid the conclusion that he simply gave up the effort to provide a convincing account of how real-world competitive markets achieve GE. Such an account has in fact never been provided even to this date. In 1954, Arrow and Debreu ? nally solved the existence problem by modern mathematical techniques – topological properties of convexity, ? ed point theorems, Nash equilibria, etcetera – of which Walras could never have dreamt but, in so doing, they travelled even further than Walras had from anything smacking of descriptive accuracy: there are forward markets in their GE model for all goods and services in the economy, including all locations and conceivable contingen t states in which these goods and services might be consumed, and yet no one holds cash to deal with the likelihood that income and expenditure may fail to synchronize. They were perfectly candid about this failure to describe actual economies. Indeed, they made a virtue of the purely formal properties of their model. 1 1 As Debreu (1959, p. x) expressed it in his Theory of Value: â€Å"The theory of value is treated here with the standards of rigor of the contemporary formalist school of mathematics . . . . Allegiance to rigor dictates the axiomatic form of the analysis where the theory, in the strict sense, is logically entirely disconnected from its interpretation†. And yet this book claimed to be a work in economics! 42 MARK BLAUG They cracked the existence problem, not to mention the uniqueness problem – is there one unique vector of prices at which GE exists? but they never tackled the stability problem. In other words, after a century or more of endless re? nements of the central core of GE theory, an exercise which has engaged some of the best brains in twentieth-century economics, the theory is unable to shed any light on how market equilibrium is actually attained, not just in a real-world decentrali zed market economy but even in the toy economies beloved of GE theorists. We may conclude that GE theory as such is a cul de sac: it has no empirical content and never will have empirical content. Moreover, even regarded as a research program in social mathematics, it must be condemned as an almost total failure. That is not to say that highly aggregated computable GE models, such as IS-LM, are pointless or that a GE formulation of an economic problem, emphasizing the interdependence of all sectors of the economy, may not prove illuminating but simply that Walrasian GE theory – the notion that the existence of multi-market equilibrium may be studied in a way that is analogous to solving a set of simultaneous equations – has proved in the fullness of time to be an utterly sterile innovation. The real paradox is that the existence, uniqueness and stability of GE should ever have been considered an interesting question for economists to answer: a complete satisfactory proof of all three aspects of the problem would no doubt have been a considerable intellectual feat in logic but would not in any way have enhanced our understanding of how actual economic systems work. IV. The Welfare Implications of GE Of course, Walras hoped to show, not just that GE is possible, but that it is good. But here too he never got much beyond the idea that voluntary exchange between two parties improves both of their welfares – otherwise, why would they have traded? What is true of bilaterial exchange will also be true of competitive exchange between a large number of traders if individual producers cannot themselves set prices, so that all consumers face identical prices for identical homogeneous commodities. This is precisely where the notion of perfect competition as an end-state of rest comes into welfare economics grounded in GE theory. Pareto, who was a much better technician than Walras, carried on where Walras left off. He too was convinced that GE is good for everyone but as a follower of Ernest Mach in philosophy, he hated such metaphysical ideas as maximising happiness, utility, welfare, or call it what you will, and he strenuously objected to interpersonal comparisons of utility (ICU) on the grounds that such comparison could not be operationalised. Pondering these issues, he realised that the one circumstance that avoids ICU is a social state which meets with unanimous approval or at least with the absence of con? ict in which one person is only made better off at the expense of another person. In other words, we want a state which is so ef? cient that there is no surplus, no waste, no slack, â€Å"no such thing as a free lunch†. But is not perfect competition just such a state? Of course, it may leave some people rich IS COMPETITION SUCH A GOOD THING? 3 and some people poor but that will be the consequence of the fact that we started with unequal endowments of the individuals in our economy – some people are born clever and some people have rich parents – but, given those endowments that are not themselves explained by GE theory – no theory ever explains everything – the GE model will grind out the rental prices of all the services of land, labor and capital as well as the prices of all goods , produced with those services. Once we have somehow arrived at the end-state of perfectly competitive equilibrium, it will be impossible to make one person better off without making another person worse off except by interfering with the initial endowments of agents. In this way, Pareto thought that he had ? nally found an admittedly narrow de? nition of the bene? cial effects of competition that was totally free of that positivist bugbear, ICU. The idea, only later called â€Å"Pareto optimality†, fell into oblivion as soon as it was announced but was rescued along with Walrasian GE theory in the 1930s by John Hicks and Nicholas Kaldor. They extended the scope of Pareto optimality by arguing that any economic change, whether from a position of competitive equilibrium or not, was welfare improving if the gains to bene? ciaries of that change were large enough to enable them at least in principle, to bribe the losers voluntarily to accept the change. The existences of such potential Pareto improvement (PPI), as they are nowadays called, still involves no ICU because it is grounded on the voluntariness of market exchange. In short, Hicks and Kaldor (with a prodding from Lionel Robbins) stayed true to the Paretian conception of how an economist should study welfare economics. At ? rst glance, the Hick–Kaldor compensation test does seem virtually to pull a rabbit out of a hat but further re? ection soon showed that the achievement was semantic, not substantive. Why is it a potential and not an actual PI? The moment we try to implement PPI by encouraging gainers and losers to negotiate a bribe, they will engage in strategic bargaining and even without fancy game theory, it is easy to see that they may never reach an agreement. If the change has political signi? cance, the state may then intervene to force the parties to agree – in which case we have said goodbye to our taboo on ICU. No matter how we slice it, in the end we cannot avoid (1) a qualitative judgement from on high of the size of the PPI – remember that there is no objective way short of voluntary trade to measure the magnitude of a gain or a loss to the parties concerned – and (2) an interpersonal comparison of that gain and loss to the respective parties. But all that brings us back to Marshall and Pigou whose Economics of Welfare (1921) had none of Pareto’s compunctions about ICU and was perfectly content to declare that a pound sterling taken from a rich man by a progressive income tax hurt him less than the pleasure it gave the poor man when it was handed over to him. We have not quite reached the end of the story. The Arrow–Debreu proof of the existence of GE in 1954 was almost contemporary with Arrow’s proof of what he labelled the First and Second Fundamental Theorems of welfare economics. The ? st theorem demonstrates that every competitive equilibrium in a decentralized economy is Pareto-optimal, which we have already discussed, and the second 44 MARK BLAUG theorem demonstrates that a Pareto-optimum can always be achieved via perfect competition if lump-sum taxes and transfers are feasible, so that whatever were the original endowments of agents, we can still make everyone better off with a perfectly compe titive economy. Immense pains are taken in every textbook of microeconomics to persuade readers of the validity of those two theorems. And they are valid – as mathematical exercises. Lump-sum taxes and transfers are changes which do not affect economic behaviour and even the most ingenious modern welfare economists have never been able to come up with a convincing example of such things. 2 I think that we may safely conclude that the First and Second Fundamental Theorems of welfare economics are just mental exercises without the slightest possibility of ever being practically relevant. They are what Ronald Coase (1988) called â€Å"blackboard economics†, an economics that is easy to write on a blackboard in a classroom but that bears no resemblance to the world outside the classroom. V. Why Is Competition Good? I contend that perfect competition is a grossly misleading concept whose only real value is to generate examination questions for students of economics. 3 It is misleading because it breeds the view that economics is a subject like Euclidean geometry, whose conclusion may be rigorously deduced from fundamental axioms of behaviour plus some hard facts about technology. But of course this does not imply that competition is bad. I, along with most economists, believe that competition is good. But if perfect competition is impossible, and Pareto-optimality almost impossible, what is the basis of this belief in the desirability of competition? It is based on a concept of dynamic ef? ciency, the outcome of competitive processes, and not the static ef? ciency of Walras, Pareto and the First and Second Fundamental Theorems of welfare economics. The schizophrenia of economists on this issue is simply extraordinary. The manin-the-street favours capitalism because it is ultimately responsive to consumers’ demands, technologically dynamic and produces the goods that are wanted at low cost; of course, it also suffers from periodic slumps, more or less chronic unemployment even in booms, and frequently generates a highly-unequal distribution 2 They would have to be randomly assigned to individuals or else to re? ect some personal noneconomic characteristic, such as more consonants than vowels in one’s last name. It used to be thought that a uniform poll tax was a perfect example of a limp-sum tax but as Mrs. Thatcher discovered it had a most profound effect on economic behaviour: almost a million people disappeared from the electoral roll in Britain because the poll tax could not be collected without a home address. 3 I concede reluctantly that it has its uses for purposes of answering comparative statics questions on taxes and subsidies but even these have much less practical signi? cance than is usually assumed (see Vickers, 1995). IS COMPETITION SUCH A GOOD THING? 5 of income. 4 Still, on balance the good outweighs the bad and without becoming Panglossian, he or she votes for capitalism – and so do virtually all economists. But is this what we teach in our textbooks? To ask the question is to already answer it. Can one actually teach the principles of dynamic ef? ciency? Of course, one can and that is what we do in every course in industrial organization (and in every course in man agement schools), where, alas, we have to undo the brainwashing that students have undergone in their courses on microeconomics. In so doing, we employ historical comparisons and case studies, and these can only cultivate the ability to make informed judgements about speci? c attempts at what Popper called â€Å"piecemeal social engineering†, making the world a little better here and there, because we do not know enough to make the whole world best once and for all. VI. Some Conclusions: Coase and Posner Beliefs in the ef? cacy of antitrust law ? ts neatly into the concept of dynamic ef? ciency, or what Clark called â€Å"workable competition†. A question like: should we break up Microsoft or just reprimand and perhaps ? e the company? does not lend itself to a precise answer by the edicts of economists and it is just as well that it does not. Empirical science frequently proceeds on the untidy basis of what is plausible rather than what can be formally demonstrated beyond any doubt. The structureconduct-performance paradigm of yesteryear, associated with names of Edward Mason and Joe Bain, did j ust that but that has since been superseded by game theory and transaction cost on the one hand and the Chicago School of Richard Posner and Robert Bork on the other hand. In between we ? d Ronald Coase and the widely misunderstood Coase Theorem as the very centre piece of the law and economics movement. Since this so-called inappropriately named theorem picks up a number of the themes in welfare economics that we have discussed above, let us close with a brief discussion of it. As stated by its inventor, George Stigler (1966, p. 113), the Coase Theorem is the proposition that â€Å"under perfect competition private and social costs will be equal† and hence â€Å"the composition of output will not be affected by the manner in which the law assigns liability for damage†. This combines two claims in one, the ? rst of which will be familiar to us: (1) an ef? ciency claim that perfect competition is always optimal if voluntary bargaining between the affected parties to their mutual advantage is possible at zero transaction costs, de? ned as the costs of making deals, negotiating contracts, and policing the enforcement of those contracts (Allen, 2000), and (2) an invariance claim that the ? nal allocation of resources is invariant to different initial assignments of property rights provided these are in fact clearly de? ed. A voluminous literature has shown that both propositions are either highly contentious or else a tautology if perfect competition, perfect information and zero 4 In an instructive essay, Richard Nelson (1981 reiterates my charge of schizophrenia and adds to my list of the bene? ts of a private enterprise system of capitalism that of â€Å"administrative parsimony†, an echo of Hayek’s discussion of the merits of competiti ve prices as information signals. 46 MARK BLAUG transaction costs are rigorously de? ned (Medema and Zorbe, 2000). Lo and behold, however, Coase has argued ever more vehemently that transaction costs can be reduced by appropriate judicial decisions but that they can never be reduced to zero even under Cournot-type perfect competition. Of course, if we de? ne perfect information as literally foreseeing every alternative opportunity under all possible contingencies, now and in the future, it follows immediately that we can write and enforce contracts at zero costs (zero in ? nancial outlays, in time and even in cognitive effort), in which case only increasing returns to scale will prevent us achieving perfect competition. Once transaction costs are zero and competition is perfect, it follows immediately that the distribution of property rights cannot matter. In short, the Coase Theorem is just a logical corollary of perfect competition and perfect information but that does little to persuade us that it is much more than a logical theorem. 5 As for the more controversial invariance claim, income and wealth effects in consumption patterns and the strategic behaviour of the injured and injuring parties as they enter into voluntary bargaining (the old objection to Hicks–Kaldor compensation payments) will certainly make the ? al allocation of resources sensitive to the way in which the law of the moment assigns liability for damage. Are we really to believe that my claim against the American Tobacco Company for giving me lung cancer will be decided in 2002 in exactly the same way it would have been decided in 1940? Coase (1964, p. 105) said it all 35 years ago: Contemplation of an optimal system may provide techniques of analysis that would otherwise have been missed and, in certain special cases, it may go far to providing a solution. But in general its in? uence has been pernicious. It has directed economists’ attention away from the main question, which is how alternative arrangements will actually work in practice. It has led economists to derive conclusions for economic policy from a study of an abstract of a market situation. Richard Posner, in his in? uential textbook, Economic Analysis of Law (1998), now in its ? fth edition, subsumes Pareto optimality and the Coase Theorem in an ef? ciency logic of â€Å"wealth maximization†. He claims not only that common law, statute law and judge-made law should serve to maximize wealth, so that for example entitlements in property law should be shifted to the more productive litigants as evidenced by their willingness to pay, but that legal entitlements and hence resources actually tend to gravitate towards their most valuable use if voluntary exchange is permitted. Without saying so, Posner clearly believes that we can 5 Moreover, as Allen (2000, pp. 904–905) argues quite rightly, the famous Modigliani-Miller Theorem of corporate nance – if capital markets are perfect, the value of a ? rm is invariant to its debt-equity ratio – and the Ricardo Equivalence Theorem of government ? nance – if capital markets are perfect, the level of household wealth is invariant to the ratio of taxes to the size of the public debt – are both special cases of the Coase Theorem because all taxes, debt obligations and equity shares are simply delineation s of property rights; in a world of zero transaction costs, both ? rms and governments could decide on debt levels by tossing a coin. IS COMPETITION SUCH A GOOD THING? 47 isolate PPI, divorcing ef? ciency from equity without committing ourselves to ICU, in short, he believes in classic or rather neoclassical Paretian welfare economics. Although he deals at length with distributional issues arising from liability rules and various forms of taxation, he never lays down any general principles about income redistribution, such as, for example, Pigou did: any transfer of income from the rich to the poor that does not diminish national income was deemed desirable by Pigou. What he argues, when criticized, is simply that users of distributive justice will have to be addressed outside the framework of standard economic analysis (Parisi, 2000). But this is exactly what Pareto, Kaldor and Hicks said years ago. Orthodox welfare economics, including the â€Å"ef? ciency of the common law hypothesis† upheld by Posner, has simply stood still ever since the 1930s. This notion of a neat divorce of ef? ciency from equity, of an objective value-free de? nition of ef? iency, has haunted economics from its outset but it is, of course, a will-o’-the-wisp: there is in fact a different ef? ciency outcome for every different distribution of income, and vice versa. Ef? ciency is necessarily a value-laden term and welfare economics is necessarily normative, that is, a matter of good or bad and not true or false. 6 However, there is real merit in treating ef? ciency and equity questions lexicographically, so that we can be as explicit as possible about our di stributional judgements, but that is not because we can ever decisively separate them. My complaint about Posner is that he evades all these fundamental questions in applied welfare economics. Not only does he fail to tell us how to add equity to ef? ciency but he does not even tell us whether ef? ciency means static ef? ciency or dynamic ef? ciency. There is an almost deliberate fuzziness of language in all his writings, which smacks of ideology rather than science. If we are going to employ the economist’s language of ef? ciency, we ought to be told just how to apply it and why ef? ciency should be our standard for judging the consequences of the law. One of Clark’s old rules of â€Å"workable competition†, such that entry into industries should be kept as free as is technically feasible taking due account of sunk costs, if necessary by antitrust legislation, is more relevant for public policy than Posner’s continual appeal to the principle of wealth maximization. The Chicago school does not deny that there is a case for antitrust law but they doubt that it is a strong case because most markets, even in the presence of high concentration ratios, are â€Å"contestable† (Bork, 1978). How do we know? We know because the good-approximation assumption: the economy is never far away from its perfectly competitive equilibrium growth path! Believe it or not, that is all there is to the â€Å"antitrust revolution† of the Chicago School. 6 Some economists believe, extraordinarily enough, that welfare economics is positive and not evaluative at all (see Hennipman, 1992; Blaug, 1992, chap. 8, 1993). 48 References MARK BLAUG Allen, Douglas W. (2000) ‘Transaction Costs’, in Bouckaert and De Geest, eds. , pp. 893–926. Blaug, Mark (1992) The Methodology of Economics, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Blaug, Mark (1993) ‘Pieter Hennipman on Paretian Welfare Economics: A Comment’, De Economist, 141, 127–129. Blaug, Mark (1997) ‘Competition as an End-State and Competition as a Process’, in Not Only an Economist. Recent Essays. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 66–86. Bork, Robert H. (1978) The Antitrust Paradox: A Policy at War with Itself. New York: Basic Books. 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