Joseph's "Just My Thoughts"

Effects of Ownership . It refers to valuing what one owns from one’s own perspective. The competition to buy tickets for the Duke University basketball game was very fierce, so the university decided to distribute tickets through a lottery. Some students applied for the same ticket, and among them, the winning students and dropout students were asked about their valuations : the winners were asked how much they would sell the ticket for, while the dropout students were asked how much they would buy it for. The lowest selling price from the winners was $2,410, whereas the highest buying price from the dropout students was $170. The difference was substantial. When asked why they thought so, ticket holders considered the value of giving up the ticket, while ticket buyers considered the value of exchanging cash for it. In other words, possession represented the benefit of sacrificing something else. Value judgments depend on what we own. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Unless you are self-sufficient, you must trade your products for those of others to survive. An exchange economy was established for the efficient survival of humanity. Economic activity leads to wealth accumulation , so for wealth to exist, there must be a counterparty . This means you cannot thrive on your own. However, having many counterparties also means that some of them could compete with your business. Exchange becomes straightforward only through the establishment of a price, which acts as an indicator of competition . Trading at a high price could generate significant wealth, but competition can hinder success. In other words, I survive because of others, while my survival is also threatened by them. Business inherently involves competition. This is why any business plan must include a strategy that considers competition. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Every business has competitors, and succeeding in business means achieving victory over the competition. Winning the competition implies creating a monopoly. One of the most traditional methods of monopolizing the market is offering rebates to buyers, often referred to as a ‘bribe,’ which is illegal. The reason monopolies are so harmful is that they infringe on customers’ choices and benefits, as opposed to merely allowing one company to dominate the market. Facebook acquired Instagram and the messaging app WhatsApp to eliminate its competitors. Although Facebook is primarily a social media platform, why would it consider WhatsApp a competitor? Because WhatsApp provides group chat services to clients, and if it expands, it could easily transition into a social media platform. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”