Perfect Competition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Perfect Competition - Essay Example According to the research findings the market with perfect competition is characterized by many small buyers and sellers such that none can influence market conditions; all firms are price takers. The products sold are identical and have close substitutes and this makes it hard for such a condition to be met for in reality, a market has differentiated products due to technological innovations. An example of such products includes agricultural products such as a bushel of wheat. Firms are free to enter or exit the market without any problem and also the factors of production are mobile. The market is also based on the assumption that all the participants have perfect information regarding the prices and quality of products. The buyers thus are able to make choices of the products they want to buy and the producers are aware of what the buyers want hence it is easy to decide on the quantity to produce. Since the participants have perfect information regarding the market and are free to enter and exit at any time, there are no transaction costs incurred in the exchange of goods. The profit maximization of the firms occurs where marginal revenue is equal to marginal cost and the market price is equal to marginal cost. Due to these conditions, it is very rare to have perfect competition although technological advancements are driving markets towards such a situation. For example, the trade in currency or money markets where participants are assumed to have perfect information and currency is same regardless of where it is being traded. Another characteristic of such a market is non-existence of externalities. According to Nicholson (2005), perfect competition ensures optimum allocation of resources in the economy. Since price is equal to the marginal cost, consumer and producer surplus can be maximized. If a producer finds that the output is not bring in revenue, he/she can top producing the product and put the resources into more profitable use especially because t here are no barriers to entry or exit. In this situation, no one can be made better off without making someone else worse off. For example, if production of wheat is not profitable, the producer can shift to production of other grains and in the process may lay off some staff and recruit others with the required skills. Competition also pushes prices down and makes the producers to find ways of producing at minimum cost hence productive efficiency is achieved (Geoff, 2006). The supply curve of a perfect market is the marginal cost curve and the demand curve is the price line which is equal to average revenue and marginal revenue. Since the price remains the same regardless of quantity produced, the demand curve is horizontal. In the short run, firms make abnormal profits as total revenue is greater than total costs thus attracting entry of new firms into the market especially due to lack of entry barriers. As firms enter the market, the market supply curve shifts outwards pushing th e prices down consequently lowering the profits by firms. Since each firm earns sufficient revenue to cover variable costs, some firms may shut down to avoid paying variable costs as revenue is low but they still continue paying fixed costs (Mankiw, 2011). The fixed costs

The process of blacks in the Diaspora (Gambia) Religious Culture Research Paper

The process of blacks in the Diaspora (Gambia) Religious Culture - Research Paper Example Ghana sported thirty six out of the total forty two slave fortresses. In addition to Ghana, another eight African locations were utilised for shipping slaves. These included Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Bight of Benin, Bight of Biafra, Gold Coast, South East Africa, Central Africa and Senegambia. (Brown, 2000) The brunt of the slave trade was mostly borne by central and west Africa. West Africa alone contributed around three fifths of the total slave populations supplied. It is estimated that one half of slaves were exported to South America while 42% went to the Caribbean, 7% to North America and 2% went to Central America. The subsequent influence of these exported slaves was instrumental for culture in these regions. The focus of this text is to trace the religious influences of African slaves from the Senegambia region. African Americans were faced with two challenges. On the one hand they were trying to establish an independent identity and on the other hand they were cre ating various religious traditions. These religious traditions can be approximated in three articulate movements. The first stream represented results of the initial African contact with Christianity from Europe. The emerging religion was more African in character both liturgically and theologically. The second stream represented an extension of the first stream whereby religious practices developed in Africa migrated to the Americas. Though these beliefs and practices were modified in the Americas but the predominant influence remained African which aided in this stream being distinct. The third and final stream saw the amalgamation of borrowed ideals and concepts from Islam, Christianity and Judaism. These faiths and their concepts were woven as a novel fabric with visions of Africa as a historical power and in some instances as a future destination. These streams are discussed below to promote an understanding of religious influences under Diaspora. The first stream represented C hristian influences permeating into Africans often in direct proportion to the social class in question. The higher classes had lowest African influence and greatest Christian influence and vice versa. Traditional practices of hoodoo and voodoo as well as other derivatives of primitive West and West Central African religions crept into the newly adopted Christian faith. This was all the more apparent in the American South. Religious services saw the use of songs and dancing as well as the possession by the Holy Ghost during these services. Similarly the Caribbean witnessed Christianity imbued with overwhelming African content. This hybrid religion was connected with obeah, the use of supernatural powers to cause harms to others and to myalism, the use of herbs and spiritual resources in order to combat witchcraft and evil spells. Alternatively the religions of convince and kumina also took root. Convince involved respect for the Christian diety along with an active veneration of anc estors by spiritual healers known better as Bongo men. In a similar manner, kumina held ancestors in great veneration and ranked them after the sky gods and earthly deities. In contrast to the above, the second stream was more prominently experienced in Cuba and Brazil where reinvented African religion was the centre of religious attention. The various ethnic kinds of African slaves that were brought to Brazil maintained distinct identities by sticking to