I thought that Sweezy had said that he was not entirely serious when he published that article -- which still was quite nice.
On Mon, Jan 20, 2003 at 12:27:47PM -0500, Shane Mage wrote:
> >Why do firms raise prices more readily than reducing them?
>
> This question was resolved by Paul Sweezy some 65 years ago.
> The first oligopolist to cut prices will be viewed by its
> confreres as "pulling a fast one" to increase its market share.
> The response will be retaliation, raising the danger of a
> "ruinous price war." But the first to raise prices will be
> viewed as a "leader," entitled to gratitude for facilitating
> everyone else's rises by "testing the water" to show that
> the higher prices "can be made to stick."
>
> Shane Mage
>
> "When we read on a printed page the doctrine of Pythagoras that all
> things are made of numbers, it seems mystical, mystifying, even
> downright silly.
>
> When we read on a computer screen the doctrine of Pythagoras that all
> things are made of numbers, it seems self-evidently true." (N.
> Weiner)
>
>
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu