Monday, March 28, 2022

In Which Izabella Kaminska Toys With Oligopsony

No, not a new product from Sony. 
Rather, a limited number of buyers, more than a monopsony but fewer than an open market.
From The Blind Spot, March 24:
....EU seeks answers to energy supply crunch, U.S. LNG deal.

[This is quite a fascinating development. You can find the actual commission statement here. “A dedicated working group on green transition and LNG is being created to develop a concrete action plan on these matters, and our officials will meet this week to further discuss enhancing energy-related cooperation.” Clubbing together in this way (in a not dissimilar way the bloc did with vaccine purchases) strengthens the argument that the EU is less concerned with competition and more concerned with bargaining power on the international stage. Which is fair enough.

But it is also a bit like the opposite of OPEC — an organisation of natural gas importing countries (or cartel) committed to boycotting those who don’t satisfy their terms of engagement....