Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ncis.llnl.gov!ncis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!decwrl!labrea!rutgers!bellcore!texbell!sugar!ficc!jeffd From: jeffd@ficc.uu.net (jeff daiell) Newsgroups: comp.misc Subject: Re: Dram Prices... Summary: Dumping Message-ID: <2761@ficc.uu.net> Date: 17 Jan 89 11:20:40 GMT References: <18814@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <6175@ecsvax.uncecs.edu> <2738@ficc.uu.net> <2759@ficc.uu.net> Organization: Ferranti International Controls Lines: 37 In article <2759@ficc.uu.net>, walker@ficc.uu.net (Walker Mangum) writes: > In article <2738@ficc.uu.net>, jeffd@ficc.uu.net (jeff daiell) writes: > > result of market forces. Besides, even if it were, why gripe? > > Doesn't dumping reduce prices for consumers? > > Only temporarily! Remember, if it really is "dumping", the purpose is > to remove competition from the marketplace. If the dumping is then > successful and competition is removed, the prevailing supplier then > rules marketplace. The consumer has no choice of supplier. As a > consumer, I would much prefer freedom of choice. The problem here is > that there are enough short-sighted consumers that don't realize that > *they* are the real victims of dumping, so they go for the bait. And > bait it is! > The lack of competition would only be temporary. First, establishing a complete monopoly, regardless of how low one sets prices, is virtually impossible -- perhaps totally impossible -- without governmental assistance. Second, it one exploited the monopoly to rake it huge profits, those profits would quickly attract new competitors. One prime example of a company realizing this took place earlier this century, when one firm had a monopoly on aluminum -- and kept *lowering* their price. That discouraged competitors, and thus saved the firm expenses on advertising and the like, thus perhaps increasing *net* profits. Jeff Daiell INDEPENDENCE FOR TEXAS! -- "You should see me when I'm rested." -- from "Brigadoon"