During the late 1970s, the most popular form of music in the United States was disco. Sparked by the film Saturday Night Fever, the disco craze swept the country. It wasn't just the music, it was also the dancing. And no disco dance club was complete without a disco ball: a mirrored ball suspended from the ceiling. The disco ball would be rotating, with spotlights shined upon it, so that lights would appear to be flashing all across the dance floor. During the heyday of disco, a company called Omega Products International (based in Louisville, Kentucky) made 90% of all the disco balls sold in the U.S. This question has four parts. Please label clearly as a, b, c, and d.

a. Does the fact that Omega International Products sold 90% of all disco balls in the US indicate that Omega International Products had monopoly power? If your answer is "yes," then explain why this indicates monopoly power. If your answer is "no," then explain why this doesn't necessarily indicate monopoly power and then explain a better way to tell whether Omega International Products had monopoly power.

b. Of course, for better or worse, the disco craze has long since dwindled into almost nothing. And now Omega Products International is the only producer of disco balls staying alive (ha, ha, ha, ha - that's a Saturday Night Fever reference, in case you didn't know). Is a monopoly in disco balls a Good Thing or a Bad Thing for society as a whole? Explain why. For purposes of this question, assume that Omega has monopoly power, regardless of your answer to part a.

c. Suppose that for some reason disco music and disco dancing become popular again. Thus the demand for disco balls increases.What will happen to the price of disco balls, the supply of disco balls, and Omega's profits in the short run? Explain your answer.

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d. Under what conditions will the increased demand for disco balls enable Omega Products International to make above-normal profits in the long run? Explain how that condition (or those conditions) enable profits to be above-normal in the long run.

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