Here is an eye-opening piece on cartels and their influence on society.

A few notes:

• Cartels look like everything but mega-villains.
• For instance, doctors act as a cartel when US universities have a cap on the number of residency slots. US doctors are paid twice as much as European doctors as a result.
• Laws preventing new constructions favor existing landlords. Their economic and societal costs are large – many can’t afford the rent for a higher-paying job in a more expensive town.
• Universities have an accreditation system, which prevents new forms of education.
• The NCAA prevents students from being paid, while universities are cashing in.
• Taxi medallions maintained high transportation costs, until Uber came in.

• The biggest risk of an effective cartel is member discontent.
• The most efficient cartels are perfectly legal. They put forward public interest and product integrity issues to recruit governments.
• Cartels use non-profits and public relations very effectively.
• Big Tech is not the biggest threat.
• There are many active cartels right under our eyes.

The top of the article is below. Click on it to gain access to its entirety.

Credit to Philo, on philo.substack.com