This sociological study will analyze the problem of commodity fetishism in American consumer culture. Karl Marx’s theory of commodity fetishism is a major problem in the United States due to the inability of consumers to see the intrinsic value of a commodity. American consumer culture tends to become trapped in the “magical qualities” of a product, which makes them unable to understand the object as it was made by a laborer. This abstraction of the commodity is part of Marx’s analysis of capitalist products that is separated from the labor and become valuable objects in and of themselves. This is an important sociological perspective on commodities, which creates an irrational consumer culture in the American marketplace.
Consumer ethnocentrism is considered of having positive influence on empathetic feelings for other persons considered similar to the consumer, which has congruence with the Rosenblatt’s (1964) hypothesis increase in in-group solidarity is a function of increased empathy which will increase the tendency to buy domestic products among the in-groups. CET was posited to negatively influence the perceived equity mainly because of the fact that ethnocentric consumers feel that international competition is devastating for the domestic industries which subsequently will induce consumers to go for domestic commodities. Decrease in perceived costs was also suggested by Olsen et al. (1993) for helping the in-groups. To put it in other way, for buying domestic products ethnocentric consumers tend to disregard the personal economic costs, thereby proving the price inelastic nature of the CET.
It also destroys efficiency and discourages innovation. On the other hand, competition enhances consumer choice and promotes competitive prices, with the result society as a whole benefits from the best possible allocation of resources. That’s why most countries in the world have enacted competition laws to protect there free market economies-an economic system in which the allocation of resources is determined solely by supply and demand. The competition law of India was previously contained in the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 (MRTP Act). This Act was formed as a result of ‘command and control’ policies adopted by Indian government after independence.
In Mankiw, Goldin and Katz’s case inequality is considered harmful only to the extent to which it destabilises growth, investments, and suitable conditions for the reproduction of capital. But this is a morally shallow treatment of harms of inequality, and prematurely brackets off the extent to which capitalism is itself to blame for the inequality with which they are concerned. Building upon research on tax return he previously did with Emmanuel Saez, Thomas Piketty provides a long view of the changing shape of income distribution and exploitation. One element traces the already well-known relative rise and fall of incomes over time, and their political influences thereof, ranging from unionization to re-regulatory exercises. The highlight
In international trade, the term “Dumping” is used to name a phenomenon consisting substantially in a predatory pricing practice. In fact, Dumping occurs when a country or a company export a product at a price which is lower in the foreign market with respect to the domestic one. Basically this represents a way through which exporting companies/countries strive to gain foreign market share in order to be more competitive in the international context. However, since Dumping often involves substantial volumes when exporting a product, it is said to be dangerous to the financial viability of the producers/manufacturers of that same product in the importing country. This happens because it could be that domestically produced goods may result to be more expensive with respect to the imported and dumped ones.
This hostility harms both countries’ economy as they are unable to carry out import and export without paying tariffs and also reduces trade activity in the long run. Protectionism is more efficient under the concept of comparative advantage for a country to focus its production on those goods for which it has an advantage in production and import those goods that it does not. Thus, consumers in the domestic market may have to pay a premium for a better produced import or be denied the ability to acquire it at all. This may reduce the standard of living of citizens. In India, for example, protectionism is beneficial for Infant Industries, uncompetitive sectors and businesses because it protects them without exposing them to
Dumping is selling a product in the importing country at a price below prevailing in the exporting country. Dumping may be harmful or beneficial to the importing country, depending on the circumstances. Dumping beneficial to the importing country, if it has no domestic industry to compete with the products removed. While importing country has a domestic industry, the dumping helpful, because consumer surplus exceeds producer surplus. Dumping is a decrease in import prices.
Protectionism refers to economic concept that is caused by government’s actions and policies to restrict international trade in the country. This is done in order to protect national companies from foreign competition thus promoting domestic business and keeping job places for local people. The main methods of protectionism are tariffs and quotas on imported goods, tax cut and subsidies to local businesses. All of these measures are not only for protecting but also for encouraging domestic business and creating competition within other local companies without having to compete with stronger foreign competition. Main methods of protectionism: • Tariffs are simply taxes put on product when it crosses national boundaries.
If a person’s attitude towards counterfeiting is favourable, it is highly likely that he or she would consider the purchase of counterfeit products. It defines attitude towards market practices as a person’s beliefs and feelings towards the operations of the business institutions. He or she is less likely to purchase the branded originals if a person holds an unfavourable attitude towards the high-profile operations of branded goods manufacturers and the snob
It is on this view that the revealed economic founding in this paper could not fail to effectively address the legal side of it. Dumping occurs when firms start using price discrimination as a strategy for profit maximisation. This signify the presence of an imperfect market where price discrimination between markets is possible, and presence of segmented markets where there is no arbitrage easily possible between markets. It is only if the two conditions are satisfied when it profitable for the exporting firm to engage in dumping. For any firm, price discrimination in favour of exports is more common because the share of exports is usually lesser than the domestic demand.