Teaching Economics with Media
Price wars aren’t good for business profits, which is why many firms may want to collude. If two goods are close substitutes, prices should be driven down near the marginal cost of production. This is a good introduction to the long run outcome of perfect competition, but can also be used to show the shut down rule. When prices drop too low, it may be worth some firms to stop production.
Guns and bullets are complement goods. This clip from Chris Rock’s HBO comedy special talks about how making the price of bullets $5000 would limit the amount of shootings. This is essentially talking about how when the price of a product increases, the demand for complement goods related to that product decreases. By having the price of a bullet cost $5000, Chris is basically saying that the government should put a price floor on bullets. This will result in less people being able to afford bullets and possible a black market for bullets. All of which are addressed in this clip. This clip has been edited for class use.
H/T to James Tierney