Internet News Search: Market Structures

For your blog post this unit, I'd like you to find a news article about a market that you think is a monopoly, an oligopoly, or is monopolistically competitive. Sorry, but blogs, opinion pages, or Q&A sites are off limits.

• Be specific about the market:  i.e., "the US auto market", or "the market for family restaurants".
• Use specific quotes from the news article to convince us about the market structure.  
• Include a link to the article at the end.  
• Do not duplicate a market already analyzed by your classmates.
• For an extra mark, you may disagree with a classmate's analysis.  Tell us what you think the market sturcture should be and why.

For example, the mobile telecommunications market in the US is an oligopoly:

There are a few large firms:  "AT&T, Verizon and Sprint"

There is price leadership: "Verizon dropped its fees and AT&T followed suit to produce virtually identical results"

There is product differentiation:   there are different kinds of "calling plans," "data plans," and "service quality" and "coverage"

http://mobile.blorge.com/2010/01/20/att-verizon-price-war-dismissed-as-myth/

Have fun being "Economic Naturalists"!