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I see no reason why a cartel should be legal just because it's managed by software. That said, SF's sky high rents are largely due to decades of anti-growth po
by Aloisius 2y ago
I see no reason why a cartel should be legal just because it's managed by software.
That said, SF's sky high rents are largely due to decades of anti-growth policies that have prevented building enough housing to meet demand.
- victorbjorklund 2y agoKnowing your competiotions pricing doesnt make ot a cartel. It is the agreement between compeotitors to regulate price that makes it a cartel. If I have a saas in industry X and I see that all my competitors price their saas between Y and Z usd/month. Then it isnt a cartel if I price my saas similar.
- renewiltord 2y agoYeah, there's nothing wrong with that. The weak point was that the software supposedly required some action to deviate from the suggested price and required some degree of adherence to the price. I don't have the software myself so I can't say how much of this is blown up and how much real, but that definitely seems like it makes things problematic.
- victorbjorklund 2y agoif I own a ecommerce in a comepetive niche and I write a script to automatically adjust my price of my competitors lower/increase the price it is not a cartel. Only if I actually make an agreement with them.
- mlazos 2y agoBoth parties made an agreement with the software maker to not deviate, in effect forming a cartel.
- renewiltord 2y agoYes, and that last one is what's being alleged.
- blackeyeblitzar 2y agoKnowing pricing is enough to distort markets when the prices are not visible to the other players like buyers. The same thing happens in recruiting where companies share compensation data through through third parties, which removes real supply and demand dynamics because companies will stick to the data they have signaled to each other this way.
- chongli 2y agoThat said, SF's sky high rents are largely due to decades of anti-growth policies that have prevented building enough housing to meet demand. Yes. This reminds me of the way so much emphasis is put on trying to prevent people from sparking wildfires with cigarettes or abandoned campfires and ignoring the work that needs to be done for good forestry and controlled burns for decades. It's incredibly short-sighted and irresponsible behaviour when it's done by individuals but institutions somehow get a pass.
- blackeyeblitzar 2y agoI agree that a cartel that is simply moved to a third party should not be legal. But HN doesn’t seem to agree when we discuss the advertising cartel using GARM as a nonprofit to collude. To me it seems that most people are unprincipled about what types of anti competitive behavior is allowed, depending on their personal politics.
- mint2 2y agoI’d say the rents in the downtown area are not entirely due to lack of supply. The large towers of “luxury” apartments definitely are willing to let units go vacant to maintain rent
- maerF0x0 2y agoElevated prices incentivize investments in things like more units in redevelopments, and better transit (to make commuting less of a economic cost)