Chapters 1–3 showed how the models of competitive markets are fundamental to the economic way of thinking. With such models we can illuminate the economic effects of market changes, such as an increase in the price of oil. This chapter examines how domestic government policies and management practices can affect the operations of markets, product prices, and output levels, as well as worker wages and employment levels. In Part A, we apply supply-and-demand-curve analysis developed in the first three chapters to five types of government control: excise taxes, gasoline price controls, rent controls, minimum-wage laws, and mandated fringe benefits. As you will see, government controls imposed in competitive markets can inspire (if not force) management reactions that negate some of the expected effects of the controls. Along the way, we consider how management policies toward work demands, fringe benefits, and honest dealing affect wage rates and firms' efficient operations in competitive markets.