J. Nathan Matias 🦣As a PhD student, I was fascinated to see how many bright peers were developing price-fixing algorithms, under the rationale of market optimization and helping businesses.
This month, the FTC reminded everyone that this is still illegal.
Price fixing by algorithm is still price fixing
Landlords and property managers can’t collude on rental pricing. Using new technology to do it doesn’t change that antitrust fundamental. Regardless of the industry you’re in, if your business uses an algorithm to determine prices, a brief filed by the FTC and the Department of Justice offers a helpful guideline for antitrust compliance: your algorithm can’t do anything that would be illegal if done by a real person.
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