Chile flushes out decade-long conspiracy to fix the price of toilet paper

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Chile flushes out decade-long conspiracy to fix the price of toilet paper

Two companies formed an ‘outrageous’ cartel to control prices of a range of paper products which ‘hurt poor people the most’, says minister

Associated Press
Thursday 29 October 2015 19.38 EDT

Two forestry companies colluded for more than a decade to control the prices of toilet paper and other products in Chile, the country’s competitive practices regulator has said.

Luis Felipe Cespedes, the economy minister, said on Thursday that the collusion between the market’s biggest players was outrageous and affected the poorest Chileans the most. The country’s president Michelle Bachelet called the alleged collusion by companies that control 90% of the toilet paper market “extremely serious”.

The regulator said on Wednesday that an antitrust court accepted its filing accusing the companies of colluding to control prices of toilet paper, napkins, absorbent towels and other products from 2000 to 2011.

“It’s one of the biggest collusion cases ever uncovered in the country,” the agency said in a statement, adding that the companies have combined annual sales of about $400m.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/30/chile-flushes-out-decade-long-conspiracy-to-fix-the-price-of-toilet-paper

[BlueJazz]

1. Well, that certainly stinks.

[procon]

2. US politicians are too corrupt to ever allow regulators and antitrust courts

to exist let alone protect consumers and hold the corporate powers accountable.

[JonathanRackham]

3. Good use for junk mail.

[packman]

4. OK- that's just crappy

Feel much better now with that pun out of my system.