Welcome To The Grand Collusion

One of the biggest economic issues of the year is the surplus and decreasing value of oil. With so much oil available, competitors continued to drop prices so as to remain competitive and win more consumers to their business rather than a different company. However, the continuously dropping prices were pretty damaging to the companies and the economy overall. Individual companies could not afford to not lower their prices any more because consumers could just switch to readily available substitutes with lower prices, because most consumers don't realize or care that there are other factors involved in economics and they just go where the prices are the best. So, one day in economics class we posed the question of why oil companies don't get together and agree on a baseline price that none of them can go below so that all of them could remain profitable and not have to worry about competing prices getting too low. We were informed that - despite the good intentions - this would be collusion, and collusion is wrong. 

Well, some people don't practice what they preach.

Some people.

You see, collusion is defined as "secret or illegal cooperation in order to cheat or deceive others." Were the oil companies to get together and decide that they would arbitrarily fix the price to make more money, that would be cheating the market. Supply and demand would dictate that the price could be lower, but because of sneaky, underhanded deals, things don't work out how they're supposed to. Collusion seems pretty unfair, yeah? Well it gets worse. The oil market is all well and good, sure, I guess it's important or whatever, but we all know what really matters in life: "friendly" games of Monopoly. 

Few people know that the man in the top hat is actually

the devil, ready to shake your hand and seal the deal

selling your soul in exchange for a hotel on Park Place. 

"What does collusion have to do with a board game that offers fun for the whole family?" one might ask. Well, the optimism in this question is charming but extremely misguided, as there is nothing fun or family about Monopoly. Monopoly is named after the economic term "monopoly" (the exclusive possession or control of the supply or in a commodity or service) that is in itself a type of corruption, but monopoly is a kind of cutthroat every man for himself type of corruption whereas collusion is a lethal combination of teamwork and selfishness. So what does collusion have to do with Monopoly? Well, it has no business being involved, but some people are just bad people.

So let's say you're playing Monopoly, and someone - hypothetically of course - decides to trade all of their properties and money to someone else for a single dollar. I know what you're thinking: no one would do that, that is ridiculous and stupid, and I fully agree. That's why this is all hypothetical. Because no one would ever think to do such a thing. But for funzies, let's say someone did. Whoever this person made an underhanded deal with would now have much greater control over the board as well as an unfair stake in the flow of cash through the market. This, sad to say, is collusion. You see, the parties involved cooperate to take down other competitors. Let's say neither Party A nor Party B is talented enough at Monopoly to win on their own, so Party B decides to knock himself out of the running and help Party A. Party B knows that he cannot win in any scenario, so he decides to help Party A and ruin the days and spring breaks of the other involved parties. 

Now I like to think I'm a pretty reasonable person and a good sport when it comes to games. (I'm not, but I do like to think I am.) But reasonable or not, as a red-blooded American I am truly bothered by dishonesty and corruption in my economics and in my board games. 

Every time collusion happens in America, a 

majestic bald eagle loses its wings. 

Trust me, I am a scientist. 

So, how does collusion damage the economy? Well, collusion involves rival companies conspiring against the consumer or other competitors for mutual benefit, which affects competition in the market. Collusion can involve dividing the market, setting prices, limiting production, and limiting opportunities. Collusion is damaging to the consumer, damaging to the integrity of the market, and damaging to the soul. Avoid collusion at all costs, not only because it is wrong but also because it can  negatively impact small businesses with delicate blue eyes and kind hearts who find themselves bankrupt in a Monopoly game unfairly and before their time. And if you are going to collude, which I do not endorse, it is probably in your best interest - hypothetically of course - to collude with someone who always actually posts their blog posts on time.