Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

> Basic economic theory predicts that a in a market with perfect competition, all firms will have zero profits (the economic definition, wherein opportunity costs are taken into consideration, nominal profits aren’t zero).

In your simplified economic world, I'm not convinced that profits would be pushed below the cost of capital.




My simplified economic world is literally just paraphrasing established theory:

>Economic profit does not occur in perfect competition in long run equilibrium; if it did, there would be an incentive for new firms to enter the industry, aided by a lack of barriers to entry until there was no longer any economic profit.[0]

Your issue isn’t with me, it’s with what’s taught in every economics department in every country around the world.

(I also never said “profits would be pushed below the cost of capital”, my comment does not imply that at all. See: “nominal profits aren’t zero”)

[0]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_competition




Consider applying for YC's W25 batch! Applications are open till Nov 12.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: