It’s different because they are using data at scale to collectively decide on pricing via Potatotrac, ya know, the title of the article…?
The issue of having four players is that it makes the coordination problem of colluding relatively easier, but they are price fixing via giant data warehouse which is algorithmically suggesting how to price.
It’s like Real Pages for potatoes, or at least this is what the article claims and what is interesting.
In an era where you can have a computer churn through a trillion datapoints to arrive at an optimal price, is it even possible to have competitive pricing as was once conceived of? The elements of uncertainty and risk have been so thoroughly eliminated that inflation seems almost unstoppable as you have such a strong signal for what the market will bear.
It’s an interesting question for the nature of free markets but few seem to have caught on to this dynamic…
The issue of having four players is that it makes the coordination problem of colluding relatively easier, but they are price fixing via giant data warehouse which is algorithmically suggesting how to price.
It’s like Real Pages for potatoes, or at least this is what the article claims and what is interesting.
In an era where you can have a computer churn through a trillion datapoints to arrive at an optimal price, is it even possible to have competitive pricing as was once conceived of? The elements of uncertainty and risk have been so thoroughly eliminated that inflation seems almost unstoppable as you have such a strong signal for what the market will bear.
It’s an interesting question for the nature of free markets but few seem to have caught on to this dynamic…