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Economics For Dummies, 4th Edition
book

Economics For Dummies, 4th Edition

by Sean Masaki Flynn
October 2023
Beginner
432 pages
12h 13m
English
For Dummies
Audiobook available
Content preview from Economics For Dummies, 4th Edition

Chapter 12

Internet Economics: Networks and Platforms

IN THIS CHAPTER

Bullet Understanding how digital versions of economies of scale drive internet oligopolies

Bullet Explaining why so many digital products are given away for free

Bullet Noting the power of network effects

Bullet Explaining how digital platforms decide whom — and how much — to charge

The digital economy is dominated by large oligopoly firms like Apple and Google that display an economic behavior that was entirely unknown before the advent of the internet: that of a major firm giving away its main product for free.

This phenomenon has been a boon for consumers, who can access and enjoy an almost incomprehensibly wide variety of business and entertainment services at no cost. But it has, simultaneously, been quite confounding for government antitrust (antimonopoly) regulators who are normally very concerned whenever major companies dominate their respective industries.

If U.S. Steel, for instance, controlled 93 percent of the entire market for steel production in the United States, regulators would aggressively investigate whether it was using ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781394161331Purchase Link