The Market Inefficiencies and The Untold Sufferings of the Middle-Class and Lower-Middleclass

Market Inefficiency:

A Market is a place where buyers and sellers gather to buy and sell goods or services for an agreed-upon price. A market becomes efficient when buyers and sellers have the same information regarding goods or services and prices. On the other hand, there are multiple causes of market inefficiencies as well. The most pressing and painful problem is that an inefficient market is eating up a significant portion of the income of the middle-class and lower-middle-class especially in the rising economics where there is sluggish control of government due to corruption. That is why market inefficiency has become more than an economic jargon. It has been mixed with the teardrops of the lower-middle-class people because every single day they are being penalized at the cost of their hard-earned livelihood. Let's explore some of the aspects below.

How Information Rules or Manipulates a Market System:

In the information age, when information is used as an asset or a weapon, a market system can be seriously manipulated by opportunists, taking the advantage of lack of correct information or spreading misleading information among the general mass. A buyer and a seller settle upon a negotiated price that defines the quality, utility or quantity of a product or service. The price also contains the portion of the profit for the sellers. A price fluctuation occurs in a market for various reasons. For example, the quality may differ from product to product. This is a fair practice. But there are unfair practices too. If there are too many middlemen between a seller and a buyer, they may become the controller of the price. In this case, neither the buyer or the seller gets benefited from the manipulation although a significant amount of money is robbed from the pockets of the middle-class and lower-class buyers on a regular basis.

The Inefficient Market Places in the Developing Economies in the World:

In the developing places on the planet, the market system is plagued with a myriad of problems that get intensified with scanty production, poor supply chain and huge population. Because of the limited production, proper distribution at a fair price to all the expected buyers is also challenging. The tyranny of the people living below the poverty line becomes unbearable when the holistic market system becomes the victim to the middlemen and the overall structure malfunctions.

How the Income of Middle-Class and Lower-Middle-Class is Being Plundered:

Generally, hard-working middle class and lower-class live from hand to mouth. Evidence shows that the middle class is uprising and becoming rich at a speedy pace in relatively poor nations of the world. Thanks to the advanced technologies, rapid industrializations, maximizations of international trade and commerce, dynamics of labour from poor to rich nations, and the favourable interest of the developed nations to invest more in third world countries to benefit from cheap labour. The mass people work harder and earn a greater amount but their living standard does not go up as a significant portion of their earnings is eaten up by the inefficient markets. This uprising middle class does not intend to spend much in the luxury market which is in the control of upper classes in the society. The middle-income families try to save the amount if left after spending for their much needed daily necessaries. This is also the only way to spend for their children in the future and the last resort to stay well in their old ages. But unfortunately, their hard work is not being paid properly and overall prosperity is not going up in spite of rosy data showing a very hopeful and exciting picture of the rising income of the middle class. But the real scenario is absolutely bleak.

What it means for the Market controlling Authorities:

It is no doubt that the middle class and lower middle class comprise the greater portion of the population in a country. Their daily happiness is stolen and if there is nobody to take care of that, it can certainly turn into a massive disaster over a long period of time. The most pressing and heartbreaking point is that in an inefficient market, the manipulators take control of the general people's emotions which they misuse at any time for fulfilling their vested interest. Market anarchy can be a viable target to digital criminals who may utilise this to destabilise specific geography. There is no chance to deny that we are now living in an age when data fraud and misuse of digital technologies are ever on the rise. An uncertainty may loom over a bigger group of mass people If the authorities turn blind eyes, cannot run as fast as criminals do and let these happen without taking rapid effective steps.

The Possible Solutions:

To get rid of the problems, the authorities must take the help of advanced technologies like developing a unified mobile application for all the markets in a specific location, which will contain the day to day updated price of the daily essentials. The application will be readily available to all mobile users and it will help them to check the prices of the daily necessities each morning before they visit a local bazar. Another advantage is that it will be tough for unscrupulous people to manipulate price in a specific market as the application will show the data from all the markets, enabling the buyers to compare easily and choose to purchase from the market which provides the cheapest price. Dishonest businessmen will also get automatically punished if they try to hoard goods and sell at a later date at a greater price because market monopoly will also be reduced and middlemen can not gain from knowledgeable buyers.

There is an immense possibility of uplifting people's living standards with overall well-being by ensuring market efficiencies and enabling people to know the most appropriate timely information regarding quality, utility and price of products.

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