In economics, a monopsony (from Ancient Greek μόνος (monos) "single" + ὀψωνία (opsōnia) "purchase") is a market form with only one buyer, called "monopsonist," facing many sellers. It is an instance of imperfect competition, symmetrical to the case of a monopoly, in which there is only one seller facing many buyers. The term "monopsony" was first introduced by Joan Robinson[1] (1933). The term "monopsony power", in a manner similar to "monopoly power" is used by economists as a short hand reference to buyers who face an upwardly sloping supply curve but that are not the only buyer; better, but more cumbersome terms may be oligopsony or monopsonistic competition. A monopsonist may be at the same time a monopolist....MORE
From Reuters:
Limit oil price or face more nuclear power - Italy
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Sunday oil-consuming countries should meet to fix a maximum price they are prepared to pay for oil, warning otherwise they would have to invest heavily in nuclear power.Denouncing the "unfair" movement of wealth from consumer nations to oil-producing countries and the "exponential" rise in prices, Berlusconi issued what he said was a threat to oil exporters, saying his proposal for a meeting had the approval of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
"Consumer countries need to meet as soon as possible, maybe in London, to reach an agreement on a maximum price for oil which cannot be breached," Berlusconi told reporters after a summit of EU and Mediterranean leaders....MORE
*I figured it was moot because the alternative is scarcity, or as Viktor Chernomyrdin, former head of Gazprom said, in a different context:
"We meant to do better, but it came out as always"
