> Before, during, and after the Phoebus cartel incandescent light bulbs were (and still are!) standardized to 1000 hours. Why? Because that happens to be a good

> Before, during, and after the Phoebus cartel incandescent light bulbs were (and still are!) standardized to 1000 hours. Why? Because that happens to be a good trade off between longevity and efficiency. I would believe this if the cartel fined members based on the inefficiency of their lightbulbs relative to light produced (lumens per watt), and fined according to this. Or allowed longer life bulbs if they met a lumen per watt efficiency target. Or even if they added a minimum life to ensure that consumers got quality, and fined producers if they produced bulbs that were too low-life. They didn't, they fined members who produced lights that lasted longer regardless of bulb efficiency. Because the decision to limit bulb life to 1,000 hours had obvious financial benefits for cartel members, I think it's pretty generous to think that this policy was solely based on wanting what was best for consumers.