price-ring
Definition
- Noun:
- A collusive agreement among businesses: "price-ring" refers to a group of companies or individuals who secretly agree to fix prices for a product or service, typically to control the market and maximize profits, often at the expense of competition and consumers.
Usage Examples
- (A group that illegally set oil prices together.)
- (The group colluded to maintain high prices.)
Advanced Usage
"to operate a price-ring": to engage in or manage such a collusive arrangement.
- The executives were convicted for operating a price-ring in the construction industry. (They secretly coordinated bids to keep prices artificially high.)
"to break up a price-ring": to dismantle or end such a collusive group through legal or regulatory action.
- The competition authority successfully broke up the price-ring in the pharmaceutical sector. (The authority stopped the illegal price-fixing.)
Variants and Related Words
Price-fixing (n): the illegal practice of agreeing on prices rather than competing.
- Price-fixing is a central activity in a price-ring. (Setting prices collectively to avoid market competition.)
Cartel (n): a formal agreement among firms to control prices or production, similar to a price-ring.
- The price-ring operated as a secret cartel. (A group that colludes to control market conditions.)
Synonyms
- Collusion: secret cooperation for a fraudulent or illegal purpose.
- Price-fixing agreement: a pact to set prices artificially.
- Cartel: an association of businesses with the same goal of market control.
Related Idioms
To fix prices: to set prices by agreement rather than market forces.
- The companies were caught fixing prices as part of a price-ring. (They illegally determined prices together.)
To rig the market: to manipulate market conditions unfairly.
- The price-ring rigged the market to keep prices high. (They manipulated supply and demand through collusion.)