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EconNews Online is South-Western's service to provide summaries of the latest economics news stories. Review the brief summaries and, for stories of interest, select the full summary. |
| PROFIT MAXIMIZATION AND THE FIRM | |
| Title | Brief Summary |
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The computer age is here, but rather than creating a paperless society, it has created a "less-paper" society. Demand for paper products such as newsprint has flattened since 1990, as has demand for paper bags, white copy paper and other paper products. The only paper product that seems immune to such decreases is tissue. (Updated April, 2007) |
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If you've ever been involved in planning a funeral--or been to a few, for that matter - you know that, despite mortician's best sales efforts, all caskets pretty much look the same: they're boxy, and made of various types of wood or steel. So what happens if you need to buy a casket, but just don't like any of the models you see? You go into business and build them to suit your own aesthetic sensibilities! (Updated September, 2006) |
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Profitability of Chinese airlines (Updated March, 2006) |
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Economists and government regulators alike are beginning to look at “two-sided markets:” economists because we don’t understand such markets very well, and regulators because these transactions can begin to look anti-competitive. (Updated February, 2006) |
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Costco is the largest warehouse retailer, with almost 50% of the market, compared with Sam's Club 40% market share. Costco's profit last year was $882 million, up 22% from the previous year. How does it do it and keep it going? (Updated September, 2005) |
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Hotel chains are beginning to act environmentally responsible: They're not changing sheets as often. It's also a good business decision, as their costs fall as a result. But some travelers aren't happy with the trend: They want fresh sheets every night. (Updated September, 2005) |
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SBC Communications has announced a move to lower the price of broadband Internet access for only $14.95 a month, sharply undercutting competitors, and putting it below the cost of some dialup plans. The move is putting significant pressure on competitors to follow suit and lower prices. (Updated August 2005) |
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Around 5 years ago, Kodak decided to move away from its core business of working with silver halide film, and enter the world of digital photography. It's learning that these may have been smart steps taken a little too late. (Updated August, 2005) |
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Starbucks can produce a regular cup of coffee in 20 seconds, a grande vanilla latte in 30 seconds, and a venti 'double-chocolate-chip-frappuchino-blended-crème' in under 90 seconds. Too slow? They're working on ways of improving those production numbers. (Updated June, 2005) |
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New immigrant businesses are going head-to-head with American icons. Greyhound has just reduced its fare for its Boston-New York run to $15. It had to, since Lucky Star Travel, a Chinese business, had been charging $15 for some time. (Updated April 2005) |
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Violight, a new company in New York, has created a toothbrush sanitizer. While it's not the first on the market--the first was about 3 times larger than Violight's--it is the first to attain relatively broad market appeal. (Updated March 2005) |
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As US firms move more and more production abroad in the search for ever-cheaper labor and other inputs, one thing is becoming increasingly expensive: getting the goods back to the US. (Updated February 2005) |
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Wal-Mart has about 3,600 stores in the US currently, serving about 100 million customers each week. As a result of all those customer purchases, Wal-Mart has about 460 terabytes of data on their consumers' buying habits. Perspective: That's more than double the amount of information contained on the Internet and equal to about 460,000 gigabytes of data. (Updated January 2005) |
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Is bigger better in the retail world? Sometime yes--if you're a giant firm like Wal-Mart. Sometimes no--when you're anyone else in the field, and it may be impossible to get large enough no matter how many mergers you form. (Updated January 2005) |
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As the Christmas buying season gears up, one thing is notably heading down: flat-screen TV prices. Some TV's, such as Sharp 32-inch LCD TVs that debuted at the beginning of the year at $5,000 are now selling for $4,000 or less. Competitors are selling for less than $2,000. (Updated January, 2005) |
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In June, 2004, The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) scaled back their requirements so that airlines must now carry only 5% over the estimated fuel needs on international flights instead of the previous 10% reserve requirement. (Updated October, 2004) |
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The biggest growth in car rental agencies isn't coming at airports; it's coming instead from the suburbs. Lining up next to coffee shops and bank branches in strip malls in suburban landscapes, rental agencies are quick to take space in the suburbs. (Updated September, 2004) |
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Giant toy retailer Toys 'R' Us is considering leaving the toy business. (Updated September, 2004) |
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In an attempt to make office mailing systems more efficient, Avery has come up with "Quick Peel" Automatic Label Peeler - a device that not only prints out labels, but peels them off for you as well. (Updated September, 2004) |
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Europeans have always
chosen in favor of less work and more leisure. Compared to U.S. workers,
European employees work fewer hours in the week and take more time for vacation.
The average number of vacation days in the US is 12 days, while in Germany
the average is 30 days, and in France it is 25 days. However, EU nations
are discovering that fewer hours worked does not translate into more workers
working, or into greater competitiveness globally. (Updated August, 2004) |
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NBC is in the process
of finalizing its purchase of Universal Studios, and the new company, NBC
Universal, will be one of the five largest entertainment companies in the
world. (Updated July, 2004) |
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Apollo Hospital Enterprises
in India now boasts a new service in its 37 hospitals spread across Southeast
Asia: providing cut-rate health services to foreign individuals looking
to save money. (Updated July, 2004) |
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Furniture Brands International,
a North Carolina furniture maker, has been hampered by competition from
China. The company has recently shuttered 17 production facilities, but
one in Thomasville, NC, has refused to fold. (Updated May, 2004) |
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As consumers shift
away from air delivery of goods to less-expensive ground delivery, UPS is
negotiating with Airbus to cancel up to US $1.6 billion in A300-600 aircraft
orders. (Updated April, 2004) |
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The union representing
Delta Airlines' pilots have offered to cut pilots' wages by 9%, as well
as forgo a 4.5% pay raise for pilots next year, in an attempt to stem company
losses. (Updated February, 2004) |
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Are So Busy, They Don't Know if They're Coming or Going |
Years of retrenching
in the railroad industry is coming back to haunt it. Reductions in demand
for railroad freight transportation over the last few years caused reductions
in personnel and equipment. This year, as a result of the surge in agriculture
and in the economy overall, the industry is struggling to keep up with increased
demand for transportation of bulk goods. (Updated January 4, 2004) |
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America Online (AOL)
has lost two million US subscribers in the last year, and is fighting back
in the internet service market with a new promotion: commit to one year
of service, and they'll throw in a personal computer and color printer for
only $299. (Updated January 4, 2004) |
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A new form of competition
has erupted in the telecommunications industry - using current digital Internet
lines to transmit telephone calls, at little cost. (Updated October 17, 2003) |
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In a move to become
more competitive in the package-delivery industry, UPS has pledged to reduce
ground delivery time by at least one day. (Updated October 17, 2003) |
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Federated department
stores introduces amenities into its stores and reduces the number of human
interactions in its stores. (Updated September 10, 2003) |
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The tourism industry
was hard hit by terrorism, modestly by the war with Iraq, and heavily by
the continuing slow economy. A meeting in Florida recently examined the
possible response by the industry to keep tourism related businesses afloat.
One overriding message was to keep prices up! (Updated June 2, 2003) |
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EMI has bought out
Mariah Carey's lucrative recording contract for $28 million. This is symptomatic
of the trend toward shorter commitments to artists, caused by their shorter
spells of popularity and higher marketing costs. (Updated April 1, 2002) |
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Alpacas are being increasingly
farmed for their wool that, for example, can be woven into fine sweaters.
Some owners are breeding alpacas for resale. (Updated September 1, 2000) |
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