[_5ysi]

I would say the rate is still artificial. If windows were the only allowed OS and Linux and Apple users were regularly jailed, I think we would say the price for windows was artificial, no matter if it were set by a government approved algorithm or not.

My point is that the connotation we associate with the word artificial varies with our opinion of the legitimacy of the monopoly in question. People who are disinclined toward the federal reserve will read artificial differently from those who think it does a good job.