"Leading to higher prices" is where the issue lies The prices didn't get higher, they just didn't get lower by as much as they could have. That really describe

"Leading to higher prices" is where the issue lies The prices didn't get higher, they just didn't get lower by as much as they could have. That really describes profit though. While I agree that all profit is rent seeking in some way and thus unfair, it's not very useful for splitting up some practices as bad rent seeking and others as less bad