n the long run, one might conclude that a business owner in perfect competition is destined to live life earning zero economics. That would be a depressing thought for that business person.

1) Due to the business person's drive to make more money, have you, the consumer, benefited from the development of newer, better, cheaper products, or is there still not enough money left over at the end of the week to pay all of your bills? Have you, the worker (or your parents) benefited from your employer's relentless drive to cut costs? Have you been downsized out of a job due to cost cutting and was it easy to get back into a job? Is it easy to find a job now or are too any jobs automated because of a business person's quest to automate in order to cut labor costs?

2) Think about a business person's quest to make profits. According to the model of perfect competition in the long run, the business person is destined to toil away for zero economic profits unless he/she can build a better, faster, cheaper product than the competition, or he/she can cut costs. Does this drive to cut costs encourage that business person to cut corners with respect to health and safety issues. Would it cause him to dump his waste or pollute illegally in order to avoid proper waste disposal and emission fees. Does it cause the owner of a restaurantto reserve food to new customers that had come back from previous diners. Or, to pick up that tomato slice that fell on the floor? Or, does it encourage business people to use illegal labor because it is cheaper? And if so, does it mean that businesses need to be regulated, or is there too much regulation already?