Portrayal of Oligopoly in the movie "A Beautiful Mind"

The movie A Beautiful Mind is all about the life of John Nash, an Economist and Nobel Prize winner who is known for his contribution to Economics and how it helped many people, particularly those in the business industry.

Oligopoly, a market structure where few firms dominate and also the middle ground between monopoly and capitalism, was portrayed in the said movie. The portrayal of oligopoly in the movie was in the scene where Nash, together with his friends, was at the bar having a drink and somewhat doing school works. When a group of ladies which consists of a blonde girl and four brunette girls arrived, Nash and his friends were arguing about getting laid with those girls and then suddenly, he came up with a realization that opposes Adam Smith’s claim that in competition, individual ambition serves the common good. He said that if they will all go for the blonde, they will block each other and no one is going to get her so they just go for the friends. By doing so, the best result will come because everyone in the group is doing what is best for himself and the group, which will led to the best possible payoff in which all of them will get laid. In relation to the business industry, firms under oligopoly consider everyone affected by their decisions because it could make things worse not just for them but for everyone else. Nash believes that Adam Smith’s claim is incomplete because there are situations where firms need to work collectively in order for everyone to win, which is what Game Theory is all about as discussed in our Introductory Microeconomics class.

The portrayal of oligopoly in this movie was not that concise but it was able to give me inkling on to how firms under this market structure works or should work at least in order for them to get the best possible result.