Recap
October’s focus has been on shedding light on the concept of competition. The articles this month covered a range of areas, which started with providing a comprehensive understanding of the concept of competition, providing explanations and painting pictures of the different types of market structures that exist. The effort included analyzing specific industries to determine whether or not competition 
existed in those industries. The industries under observation were, the bauxite, gold and beverages – particularly aerated drinks, beer, and rum industries. For both the gold and bauxite industries, it was established that the majority of their output was exported; both faced competition in the international market. Prima facie, the bauxite industry is duopolistic in nature and highly uncompetitive from the local and production side. But, the industry faces much competition from other major global players. However, the importance of this industry to the Guyana economy could change with access to cheaper sources of energy, which could lead to the emergence of value-added activities in the domestic economy and bring the uncompetitive nature of the industry into sharper focus. The gold industry on the other hand has a different fate. It has a much larger number of producers and is much more complex, facing much more competition than bauxite globally. But this industry has another dynamic to it. An issue that arises is whether the large number of rights, being approved by GGMC, is spread across a large number of owners or if the rights were concentrated in the hands of a few holders. While the ownership of multiple rights is allowed, one needs to know if, as currently configured, it fosters competition.
