Fri, 08 Aug 2003 17:47:37 GMT

Oligonomy Defined. Hannaford lays the groundwork for a new theoretical model of business economics — the oligonomy. It's a curious conundrum and I've never seen any of the free-market thinkers address this phenomenon of growth. Where does it lead, and what does it mean?

Oligonomy defined

The vocabulary of economists has no word to describe an increasingly common phenomenon. An oligopoly, as you know, is a market sector in which there are few sellers. An oligopsony is a market sector in which there are few buyers. But there are an increasing number of market sectors in which the same companies are both oligopolies and oligopsonies. This situation I propose to call an oligonomy.

As I see it, oligonomies are spreading in almost every market and market segment. Being both an oligopoly and an oligopsony is a very advantageous position. But it is also, for many companies, a necessary defensive move. [Oligopoly Watch]

[b.cognosco]

This sounds very much like the anti-market distinction that Braudel proposes and Delanda pursues in his papers.