I've read this article a couple of times and am trying to figure out why this is news. Disintermediation (the cutting out of middlemen in a supply chain) has long been pointed to as a major benefit of e-commerce systems like ebay so no big revelation about economics here. Like a lot of middlemen, card conventions/shows suffer when buyers are able to find and purchase cards from seller without them.
I do plan to track down the actual research study and read it myself as this article is not very well written and I'm not sure how well the reporter even understood the research she was reporting on.
jeff
Quote:
Originally Posted by fgoodwin
Finding Economic Lessons in Fading Era of Card Shows
By MARY PILON
Published: April 21, 2012
Can the dying world of baseball card conventions provide a lesson in economics?
The long-dwindling gatherings of card dealers peddling mint-condition Joe DiMaggios and Stan Musials are good examples of what economists call two-sided markets, according to a new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
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