https://t.co/ASGPXuQoTa
Recent U.S. anti-trust probes, including one involving Cal-Maine Foods, link investigations to high egg prices, drawing parallels to past cases like Agri Stats in the meat industry. The core concept is how companies in concentrated markets use information as unspoken signals among rivals, potentially weakening competition and raising prices.
The mechanism relies on low-cost public signals and real-time monitoring, allowing a simple Grim Trigger punishment strategy to turn fierce competition into "silent collusion". Examples include airlines using the ATPCO database for price pre-posting signals and meat processors using detailed Agri Stats weekly reports to monitor rivals. These public platforms facilitate Cheap Talk and Public Monitoring in Repeated Games, creating a "focal point" price maintained by fear of the severe Grim Trigger punishment. This demonstrates an Information Sharing Paradox, where transparency aids collusion. Algorithms and big data can amplify this, enabling automated "invisible collusion".