daily travails has posted about the Chicago GSB laptop discounts. I have been thinking about my class' community dynamics over the last couple weeks.
True to the historical reputation of the University of Chicago's free market's school of thought, the class has banded together and achieved significant group discounts for apartments; and this week laptop discounts were added to the list of community benefits.
I wonder if cellphone deals will be next?
It is interesting to see market forces played out. The power of a community that works together is amazing. I guess this would tend to work only when options for products exist.
For instance, the housing cartel numbered ~150 students. A couple students took the lead in negotiations with various apartment buildings. If the average monthly rent for a student is $600-800, the negotiator has ~$100,000 in monthly revenue in their pocket. Of course this assumes that the cartel sticks together and takes the offer, which in this case the group did.
Posted by Jeremy Showalter at June 29, 2004 02:09 PM