Essay on Microeconomics and the Board Game Monopoly

All I ever needed to know about microeconomics I learned from the Hasbro board game Monopoly. Some people, like myself, need practical models in order to understand certain concepts and theories. In our text book The Economy Today it completely ignores the intrinsic value of business decisions because you can’t put a numeric value on it. The game Monopolyâ„ ¢ is all about the numbers. In the game of Monopolyâ„ ¢ you have goals: The object is to bankrupt all opponents. To do so, you must be dedicated and make each decision with the aim of improving your chances and wiping out your opponents.† (Monopoly) In what I will call throughout the paper real life, the goal is the same. Look at the excerpt from an ABC New article called The†¦show more content†¦On the official Hasbro â„ ¢ website, and in many books you can find all kinds of strategies for winning the board game. Know when to cause a building shortage If you have only low-rent color groups, quickly build three or four houses per property to restrict the availability of houses to owners of high-rent color groups. Never move up to a hotel anywhere if the return of houses to the bank would enable an opponent to develop an expensive color group. (Example: the Yellow group has just been formed. There are only three houses in the bank, but six hotels. You own the light blues with four houses on each. Do not buy hotels. Doing so would give the player owning the Yellows an opportunity to build up to hotels on them.) (Monopoly.com) By buying up the houses you are creating a barrier to entry. It is a barrier even if your opponent has the necessary funds to enter. This is because of the basic economic principal of scarce resources, or as Stephen Slavin calls it in Economics Control over essential resource. (Slavin 541) The game Monopoly is a prime illustration of scarce resources; that is, â€Å"There’s a limit to the amount we can produce in a given time with available resources.† (Schiller 9) The property is limited - Nothing can be done to create more property; you can only build on yourShow MoreRelatedTaking a Look at the Concept of Monopoly923 Words   |  4 Pagesof this class of microeconomics would be monopoly. I chose this topic because as of today we face many issues regarding this topic and I would like to be well informed and help others be informed on monopoly. One of the two articles that I will be using is published on Econlib, the name is â€Å"Monopoly† by George J. Stigler. The other article I will be using is published on about.com in the economic education section and the title is â€Å"What Is a Monopoly?† by Jodi Beggs. â€Å"Monopoly† by George J. 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However, there are many markets that are dominated by a relativelyRead MorePrinciples of Microeconomics Fifth Canadian Edition20085 Words   |  81 PagesLicensed to: iChapters User PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS: A G U I D E D T O U R PART ONE: INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Ten Principles of Economics Thinking Like an Economist Interdependence and the Gains from Trade The study of economics is guided by a few big ideas. Economists view the world as both scientists and policymakers. The theory of comparative advantage explains how people benefit from economic interdependence. 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Christian Pichardo Principles of MicroEconomics Mr. Peter Cronrath April/4/2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..pg 3 GoPro†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...pg 4- 5 IPO †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..pg 6 Problem†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦............pg 7- 8 Solution†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦............pg 9 Charts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...........pg 10-11 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦................pg 12 INTRO The stockRead Morechapter 13292 Words   |  14 Pagesis nearly identical to its product. e. both c and d 1-14 Which of the following statements is true? a. Shareholders as a group have little or no ability to force managers to pursue maximization of the firm’s value. b. The effectiveness of a board of directors in monitoring managers will be enhanced by appointing members from the firm who are well-informed about the management problems facing the firm. c. Reducing the amount of debt financing can reduce the divergence between the shareholders’Read MoreGame Theory Introduction17342 Words   |  70 PagesStrategies and Games Strategies and Games Theory and Practice prajit k. dutta The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts . London, England  © 1999 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. 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