How the price mechanism determines the equilibrium price in the market and why governments may intervene

There are a variety of different business structures that comprise the market in the world today. The most common ones found in the business world today are sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations. From these you will also find monopolies and oligopolies. Economists assume there are a number of different buyers and sellers in the market which leads to competition which allows prices to change in response to changes in supply and demand.(1) In many industries you there are substitutes for products, so if one type of product becomes too expensive the consumer can choose an alternative product that is cheaper, or one of better quality.

A price ceiling is a government-levied maximum rate for a product or good. When a price ceiling inflicted by the government is more than retail equilibrium price, the price ceiling has no effect on the market or economy. This is because it does not obstruct supply, nor does it boost the demand. A different effect transpires if the government imposes a price ceiling below the market’s equilibrium rate. The suppliers will no longer be capable of charging the price that the market mandates, but they are required to meet the maximum price determined by the government’s price ceiling. When the demand rises beyond the capability to supply, shortages ensue. This leads to rationing of the product, causing some consumers to experience longer lines to obtain the product. In a worse case, there would be no products available for the consumer to buy.

-The role and significance of prices in the market economy has to do with supply and demand. If there are the same amount of buyers as products, the price will settle. If there are more buyers than products, the price of the product will rise. And, if there are more products than buyers, the price of the product will decrease. This occurs until the supply of the product matches the demand of the product.

However, when the equilibrium price is beyond the expectation of a fair market value, for reasons of political or social concerns governments will intervene in the market and establish limits on such things as wages, apartment rents, electricity, or agricultural commodities. Government uses price ceilings and price floors to keep prices below or above market equilibrium. (Stone, 2012, page 68)

Prices in a market economy are very important. Price allows us to give out goods appropriately to those who are able to pay.

The current issues that have been created by the market have trapped our political system in a never-ending cycle that has no solution but remains salient. There is constant argument as to the right way to handle the market, the appropriate regulatory measures, and what steps should be taken to protect those that fail to be competitive in the market. As the ideological spectrum splits on the issue and refuses to come to a meaningful compromise, it gets trapped in the policy cycle and in turn traps the cycle. Other issues fail to be handled as officials drag the market into every issue area and forum as a tool to direct and control the discussion. Charles Lindblom sees this as an issue that any society that allows the market to control

The two basic assumptions that economists make about individuals and firms is that they are only out to make the max amount of profit available by pushing the resources that they are given to the limit. the role and significance of price in a market economy is the most useful tool that economists can use, its all about supply and demand. If the price of the item is fairly high, then that shows that there is a strand desire for the product by the people. If the price of an item is fairly low, than the desire for that item by the public is little to none. A market economy may not be the most fair option, but it is the most stable economy compared to that of a communist government.

Market failure appears when there is a failure in allocation of goods and services. When the market is unsuccessful, the government is called to intervene and correct the failure. Over the years, government participation in the pharmaceutical market has been more wide-ranging than any other good or service. With the government’s ability to regulate, mandate, inform, finance and provide, their intervention to overcome market failure can be beneficial for the economy. Market failure plays a significant role in today’s economy.

The supply and demand in microeconomics relies on competitors and the prices. The equilibrium is a point at which all the bidding is done.

1A. Market failure is a situation in which the allocation of goods and services is not efficient. In any given market, the quantity of a product demanded by consumers does not equate to the quantity supplied by suppliers. This is a direct result of a lack of certain economically ideal factors, which prevents equilibrium.

Businesses can decide which goods to produce and in what quantity and consumers can decide what they want to purchase and at what price. The role of the state is limited to ensure right precision in the prices charged by the sellers. Prices also have the function to allocate and distribute a country’s resources. Market leads to complete effectiveness bringing about the best possible distribution of a country’s resources in a perfect world. This would only happen in a state of equilibrium and there is a unique price for every commodity. But in a realistic world which is imperfect by nature, prices are never at equilibrium and very unstable depending upon the vagaries of the market forces. This generally harms people living below the poverty line. It is impossible for them to pay high prices in cases of demand shortage. Thus, the free market model is not a viable option in developing countries which has a large number of poor. Besides, producers are aim to minimize profit and maximize rent of production. Examples of countries that are using this economy system are Hong Kong, USA, and UK. Many developing countries like India and China are moving towards totally free-market economy.

Government intervention corrects market failure resulting in environmental sustainability and improved accessibility to services. Goods or services with negative externalities are market failures because the operation of the price mechanism

there are a number of different buyers and sellers in the marketplace. This means that we have competition in the market, which allows price to change in response to changes in supply and demand. Furthermore, for almost every product there are substitutes, so if one product becomes too expensive, a buyer can choose a cheaper substitute instead. In a market with many buyers and sellers, both the consumer and the supplier have equal ability to influence price.

It means that the final price, which is negotiated between sellers and buyers, would satisfy both trade participants. Moreover, Marshall states that law of demand and consumer choice plays an important role in determining the commodity price.For instance, price of goods always is smaller than marginal benefit of the consumer if there are lots of producers and consumers in a competitive market. Furthermore, perfect competition force many firms to reduce their production cost and use efficient production way because the sellers can set a lower price compared with their rivals which would be able to attract more customers. Therefore, these three neoclassical economic thoughts demonstrate that the free market can appropriately reconcile the self-interest of producers and consumers, so it would tend to towards equilibrium.

Different market decisions determine how an economy is run. There are several different factors that account for how markets make their decisions, which determines how they function. The theory of markets mostly depends on supply and demand. However, it is key to note that there is a difference in demand/supply and quantity demanded/supplied. A demand is how much the buyer plans to purchase at various markets prices and the quantity demanded is what the buyer actually purchases at a particular price. Supply is the producer or the seller’s plan of the amount the seller will make available at different market prices and the quantity supplied is the actual amount that the seller makes available at a particular market price. It is important to