3.3 Markets and the Exercise of Economic Power

3.3.1 Economic Regulations

economic regulation for efficiency and political reasons

3.3.2 Supply and Demand for Materials, Goods and Services

competition drives a price that creates a supply-demand equilibrium

3.3.3 The Labour Market: Setting the Level of Wages Paid

wage negotiations: setting wage levels that employers can afford

3.3.4 Financial Markets

banks, loans, interest rate, speculation, inflation, currency exchange

3.3.5 Deviations from the Classical Economic Model

unpredictability, irrational behaviour, external events, restrictive practices

3.3.6 Government Control of Markets

governments sometimes manipulate markets, inefficiently, for politics

3.3.7 Targeted Political Uses of Economic Power

targeted governmental economic interventions impose costs elsewhere

3.3.8 Prudent Economic Management: Macroeconomic Policies

how governments manage spend and taxation, inflation, currency

3.3.9 Economic Pressures on Governments

pressure on politicians to give people a sense of economic wellbeing