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What best describes the role of government in a free enterprise system?
1. Control business activities.
2. Decide what companies will be formed and then allow the managers to run them.
3. Allow individuals to operate their businesses in ways they think will maximize their profits.
4. Require companies to disclose information to consumers.

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Sonal Bahl
Sonal BahlLv10
1 Nov 2020

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Related questions

What is the role of government in a free-enterprise system?
a. Control business activities.
b. Decide what companies will be formed and then allow the managers to run them.
c. Allow individuals to operate their businesses in ways they think will maximize their profits.
d. Require companies to disclose information to consumers.

 

 

Market Analysis Market Participants Market participants act as if they are rational, self-interested, and forward-looking. For example, financial managers try to maximize the present value of profits for their particular companies, rather than ignore future values. Companies pursue many goals, but it is a financial mistake for managers to pursue any goal that conflicts with the primary goal of maximizing their firm's profits. Decentralized decision making by individual market participants is more economically efficient that centralized decision making by government policymakers. For example, it is more economically efficient to have financial managers obtain financing for their particular companies than to have government obtain it. A high degree of competition among market participants is the most economically efficient disciplining mechanism. For example, highly competitive financial markets discipline financial managers to pay fair market interest rates on the debt securities issued by their particular companies. The market system of prices is the most economically efficient allocative mechanism. For example, it is more economically efficient to distribute a firm's corporate stock to those buyers who are willing and able to pay the market price of the stock than to have the government distribute the stock. It is economically efficient for market participants to buy low and sell high globally. For example, it is economically efficient for U.S. firms to sell their financial securities to the highest bidders, no matter where they live in the world economy. Market imperfections can create considerable risk to market participants. For example, because of market imperfections, firms operating in the international financial markets encounter foreign exchange rate risk, political risk, interest rate risk, and default risk. Consumer Sovereignty The principle of consumer sovereignty tells us that by making their dollar votes, consumers indirectly determine the quantity and quality of products that firms will produce. For example, it is not economically efficient for financial managers to obtain more financing for their particular firms than is needed for their firms to produce the profit-maximizing level of output demanded by consumers. Market Economy A highly competitive market economy is largely self-regulating, in the absence of substantial market imperfections, in that economic conditions cannot be substantially improved by government regulation or other types of government intervention beyond laissez-faire policies. For example, if a firm's corporate stock is overvalued by a market economy, market forces will tend to drive down the value of the stock to a market price at which it is neither overvalued nor undervalued. As if by an invisible hand, highly competitive market forces will tend to create a harmony of interests among individual market participants, in the absence of substantial market imperfections. Consequently, the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders are compatible. For example, in trying to maximize profits, firms produce employment, income, consumer products, and wealth for households, as well as tax revenue for government, which helps maximize consumer utility and maximize social welfare. In a market economy, resources, products, and assets flow to their highest valued uses among alternative uses. For example, the shares of firms' corporate stocks will be acquired by those market participants who most highly value them, as indicated by the fact that they are willing to pay the most to acquire them. The efficient economic role of government is limited to Laissez-Faire ("hands off") policies, which create very little intervention in a market economy. For example, government regulations of banking and securities industries to maintain healthy, reasonably profitable, consumer-oriented financial markets would not be needed in a highly competitive market economy in the absence of substantial market imperfections. In a market economy, it is economically efficient for each market participant to specialize according to comparative advantage in producing what they can produce relatively better than other market participants, rather than produce all the outputs they can produce absolutely better than others. For example, it is economically efficient for people who are relatively better at being financial managers than others, to specialize in financial management even if they are absolutely better than others in doing many other types of work. If all labor were allocated to its comparative advantage, then no possible reallocation of labor would exist that could increase the rate of return to labor (i.e., the wage). There is no such thing as a free lunch, because all resources, products, and assets in a market economy are scarce. For example, current federal government budget deficits are not free to current market participants in that the deficits must be financed by future tax increases and/or future decreases in government spending and/or future inflation. For additional information on the Market Economy click here. Marks, R. E. (2006, December). There Is No Such Thing As Free Lunch. Australian Journal of Management. 31(2). 1-7. Financial Decisions An efficient financial decision, practice, transaction, or condition is one that is optimal -- meaning best; it cannot be improved, from society's perspective. If there is some profitable way to improve some business practice that would benefit society, that practice is somewhat inefficient. Any change in a financial decision, practice, transaction, or condition that improves society is an efficiency improvement. For example, it is an efficiency improvement for a business to cut production costs by reducing waste (e.g., by reducing spending on unprofitable activity. A financial decision, practice, transaction, or condition is fair-- meaning just or equitable, if the financial benefits are distributed to those involved in proportion to how much they each voluntarily contributed to produce those benefits. For example, a financial practice that discriminates against some people on the basis of race, age, gender, nationality, or religion is unfair. For example, an unethical business practice is unfair. For additional information relating to Market Analysis and fair financial decisions, click on the following: Teaching Ethical Economic Practices to Business Managers. Johnston, C. (2009, October). The Proceedings of the Annual Conference of The International Academy of Business and Economics. Fairness is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient condition, for efficiency. All efficient financial practices are fair, but some fair practices may still fail to be efficient. For example, embezzling company funds is an unfair and inefficient, criminal financial activity. As another example, an ethical business practice that could be improved is fair but not efficient. Opportunity Cost Principle Opportunity cost principle: The efficient measure of the cost of any allocation of resources, products, money income, wealth, or time is its opportunity cost -- the value of the next best use. The opportunity cost of how one uses his or her resources is the value of the highest valued alternative use. The opportunity cost of one investment is the expected return on the next best investment available to the firm. For example, the opportunity cost of a firm using some of its profits to pay dividends to its stockholders would be the present value of future income those profits could have earned if invested in the firm's highest valued investment project.

Discussion Questions These questions stem from the Class Discussion Questions you will be anwering in the Discussion Board. Think about the questions and how they relate to the financial management principles above.

2. Applications: State the financial management principle that appears to be violated in each of the following cases and explain how it is violated:

(a) A corporation is maximizing sales growth and the price of its corporate stock is falling.

(b) A highly paid financial manager in the auto industry quit his job to set up his own small auto repair shop, which is expected to incur a loss for the first three years then earn normal profits.

MC Qu. 020 In a market economy:

In a market economy:

the government owns the means of production so that it can produce what is in society's best interest.

businesses design their plans to maximize their profit and the market is relied upon to see that individual self-interest is consistent with society's interest.

workers are directed by government planning boards to produce what is in society's best interest.

government sets prices to make necessities affordable because it is in society's best interest to make necessities affordable.

MC Qu. 022 Suppose that at the current price consumers would ...

Suppose that at the current price consumers would like to purchase 10 million large-screen televisions and 15 million are available. When the market coordinates the demand and supply for large-screen televisions, the price of large-screen televisions will:

rise.

fall.

stay the same.

be fixed by the government.

MC Qu. 036 Most economies today are:

Most economies today are:

pure market economies.

differentiated primarily by the degree to which they depend on markets.

differentiated primarily by who owns the means of production.

socialist.

MC Qu. 047 Households are on the:

Households are on the:

the supply side of factor markets and the demand side of goods markets.

the demand side of factor markets and the supply side of goods markets.

the supply side of both factor markets and goods markets.

the demand side of both factor markets and goods markets.

MC Qu. 050 Governments do all of the following except:

Governments do all of the following except:

oversee the interaction of households and businesses in the goods and factor markets.

demand labor services from households in the factor market.

demand for goods and services from businesses in the goods market.

supply labor services to businesses in the factor market.

MC Qu. 054 Businesses fail because:

Businesses fail because:

they follow the principle of consumer sovereignty too closely.

the invisible hand determines that they are not producing something socially valuable.

they earn excessive profits.

entrepreneurship is present.

MC Qu. 066 A business is most likely to be characterized as a...

A business is most likely to be characterized as a corporation if:

it has two or more owners, with each owner liable for every other owner's actions.

it has only one owner.

it is legally treated as a person and owned by stockholders who are liable for the actions of the corporate "person" regardless of their investment

each owner is liable only to the extent of his or her own investment.

MC Qu. 074 Which of the following statements is correct?

Which of the following statements is correct?

Stockholders are legally liable for all the debt of a corporation.

A corporation is a business that is legally owned by its employees.

Corporations are legal entities that, in law, are treated as persons.

Most large companies and many small companies in the United States are not corporations.

MC Qu. 095 Government regulation of working conditions is an ...

Government regulation of working conditions is an example of:

government as a referee.

government as owner.

government as an actor.

government as a dictator.

10. MC Qu. 104 Which of the following would most likely generate ...

Which of the following would most likely generate a negative externality?

education

a lighthouse

cigarette smoke

employment

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