cartel
Noun: 1. An association of independent businesses formed to regulate production, pricing, or marketing of a product to limit competition and increase profits. This is the primary economic meaning, describing a formal agreement between competing companies to control a market. 2. A formal agreement between political or military groups, especially during a war, concerning a specific matter. This is a less common, historical usage, such as an agreement for the exchange of prisoners.
- Noun (Economic):
- The international oil cartel influences global fuel prices by coordinating production levels among its members.
- Governments have laws against forming a cartel because it harms consumers by reducing competition.
- Noun (Political/Military Agreement):
- The two warring nations negotiated a cartel for the exchange of wounded prisoners.
- "To form/operate a cartel": This describes the act of creating or running such an association.
- Several companies were fined for secretly operating a price-fixing cartel.
- "Cartel behavior" or "cartel-like activity": Terms used to describe actions that resemble those of a cartel, even if a formal association is not proven.
- The regulator is investigating the industry for signs of cartel-like activity.
- Cartelization (noun): The process of forming a cartel or the state of being controlled by a cartel.
- The cartelization of the diamond industry has been well-documented.
- Cartelize (verb): To bring under the control of a cartel.
- The producers attempted to cartelize the market for rare earth minerals.
- Consortium, syndicate, trust, monopoly, bloc, alliance (in the economic sense).
- Pact, agreement, convention, treaty (in the political/military sense).
- Price-fixing cartel: A specific type of cartel where members agree on selling prices.
- The companies were accused of being a price-fixing cartel.
- Drug cartel: A modern, specific application of the term for large, powerful, and often violent criminal organizations that control the illegal drug trade.
- The government deployed troops to combat the powerful drug cartel.
The core meaning of "cartel" is a cooperative agreement between rivals to control a market or situation. In modern English, the economic meaning is dominant. The historical military/political usage is now rare. The term often carries a strong negative connotation of illegality, secrecy, and anti-competitive behavior in business contexts.
- a consortium of independent organizations formed to limit competition by controlling the production and distribution of a product or service
- they set up the trust in the hope of gaining a monopoly