How Do You Enforce an Illegal Agreement?

Opublikowano: 2026-10-01

Cartel members have a weird contracting problem: they can have a deal, but they can't rely on normal contract law to enforce it. This means cartels have to police themselves. The episode explores why cartel members monitor one another, why cheating can be profitable for one cartel member, and why the threat of a return to competition can help sustain an anticompetitive agreement using the so-called shipping-container “Box Cartel.” The episode then moves to artificial intelligence. An AI system can monitor deviations and react faster than human managers. It can respond to competitive punishment and redu...