9. Historically, in many cities, taxi fares were often way above the market equilibrium rate, due to government licensing restrictions. In essence, these taxi cartels used government laws to earn excess profits by erecting barriers to entry. How- ever, modern ride-sharing services such as Uber have found innovative ways to bypass these government restrictions, and protests by the taxi industry have been frequent. In some cas- es, governments responded by banning Uber. Compare and contrast resource allocation and market outcomes under the restricted license system and a competitive system. In which case will it be easier (and cheaper) for customers to get a ride? Do you think governments should ban Uber to increase the profits of taxi drivers? Why or why not?

From the graph you drew to answer Exercise 11.6, would you say this transit system is a natural monopoly? Justify. Use the following information to answer the next three questions. In the years before wireless phones, when telephone technology requited having a wile matting to every home, it seemed plausible that telephone service had diminishing average costs and might require regulation like a natural monopoly. For most of the twentieth century, the national U.S. phone company was AT&T, and the company functioned as a regulated monopoly. Think about the deregulation of the U.S. telecommunications industry that has occurred over the last few decades. (This is not a research assignment, but a thought assignment based on what you have learned in this chapter.)

In the middle of the twentieth century, major U.S. cities had multiple competing city bus companies. Today, there is usually only one and it runs as a subsidized, regulated monopoly. What do you suppose caused the change?

Some years ago. two intercity bus companies, Greyhound Lines, Inc. and Trailways Transportation System, wanted to merge. One possible definition of the market for this case was the market for intercity bus service. Another possible definition was the market for intercity transportation, including personal cars, car rentals, passenger trains, and commuter air flights.' Which definition do you think the bus companies preferred, and why?

Imagine a monopolist could charge a different price to every customer based on how much he or she were willing to pay. How would this affect monopoly profits?

Suppose the local electrical utility, a legal monopoly based on economies of scale, was split into four films of equal size, with the idea that eliminating the monopoly would promote competitive pricing of electricity. What do you anticipate would happen to prices?

Suppose the market for Hula Hoops is monopolized by a single firm. a. Draw the initial equilibrium for such a market. b. Now suppose the demand for Hula Hoops shifts outward slightly. Show that, in general (contrary to the competitive case), it will not be possible to predict the effect of this shift in demand on the market price of Hula Hoops. c. Consider three possible ways in which the price elasticity of demand might change as the demand curve shifts: It might increase, it might decrease, or it might stay the same. Consider also that marginal costs for the monopolist might be increasing, decreasing, or constant in the range where MR=MC Consequently, there are nine different combinations of types of demand shifts and marginal cost slope configurations. Analyze each of these to determine for which it is possible to make a definite prediction about the effect of the shift in demand on the price of Hula Hoops.

How can a monopolist identify the profit-maximizing level of output if it knows its total revenue and total cost curves?

For many years, the Justice Department has tried to break up large firms like IBM, Microsoft, and most recently Google, on the grounds that their large market share made them essentially monopolies. In a global market, where U.S. films compete with firms from other countries, would this policy make the same sense as it might in a purely domestic context?

What is the usual shape of a marginal revenue cuwe for a monopolist? Why?