Economics is based on the theory of a free and open markets. When I took Econ 101, they had a stock market simulator for us to try out. I colluded with a class

Economics is based on the theory of a free and open markets. When I took Econ 101, they had a stock market simulator for us to try out. I colluded with a classmate to game the market, and we won. The only surprising part was that our fellow classmates didn't consider the triviality of it's pricing model, which was strictly based on the last transaction prices. The Professor was convinced we hacked the computers, to cheat, which we didn't. We just used the rules as presented, picked a portfolio of stocks to sell at the minimum price to each other... then when the price dropped, our fellow students sold ... and we bought, slowly selling off our other stocks, until we had all those shares. Then we sold each other those stocks at the maximum price. The only effective difference between that simulation and the real world is the 1-10% of the profits that we'd have to pay for "the biggest fine in history". The regulators have been captured.