The most important thing about a monopoly or other organization of companies that colludes to fix prices is that the price of a good or service need not be related to the cost of producing it. A farmer with grain to sell also needs to transport and store it. He either pays what the elevator cartel is asking or his grain rots and he loses everything. Or, if he is slightly better off, he can build a silo of his own. For that, he needs steel; he pays the price Mr. Morgan is asking, or he doesn’t use that metal in his construction. A customer’s choice is limited to paying the price on offer,
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