What they can do is cooperate with the other viable competitors to raise prices together in a way that benefits each of them without the risks of competition. They’re not actually comfortable competing with an entity that might bully them out.
That is price fixing and can end them up in jail and is super obvious when on a large scale. Why couldnt it be the government just printed a bunch of money and that caused inflation?
What they can do is cooperate with the other viable competitors to raise prices together in a way that benefits each of them without the risks of competition. They’re not actually comfortable competing with an entity that might bully them out.
That is price fixing and can end them up in jail and is super obvious when on a large scale. Why couldnt it be the government just printed a bunch of money and that caused inflation?