I would recommend going beyond Econ 101, as well as observing the real world and reams of empirical evidence. Housing is not a perfectly competitive market for widgets with an abundance of sellers where everyone has perfect information and there are no transaction costs. "(illegal behavior X) could never happen because markets" is freshman dorm at UChicago thinking
I submit that the long term issues we are having in the united states, are in fact the result of short term solutions. Also, standard oil controlled more like 90% of the market, so in that context they had lost more like 25% by the time the trial concluded.
I'm pretty pro-market, but Standard Oil used a lot of techniques to fix prices. Having a lot of refinery control and the ability to undercut anyone who didn't play ball with them (and thus kill the small independent) did happen. They didn't need a true monopoly, just enough power to tank any smaller company that tried to undercut them.
If you're interested in the subject, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power by Daniel Yergin is a fascinating read.
Its a book on basic economic reasoning, price signals, competition, those things are covered from a principled basis, sorry if it doesnt ctrl+f to tell you how irrational the idea of price fixing is.
You make an interesting point. While the concept is never introduced in the book, the sum total of the information of the book is that price fixing doesn’t work.
How do I square that with the lesson that I learned from the Bible? While price fixing is not mentioned in it it is pretty clear that it says that price fixing works
Well, I wouldnt belittle you for getting your economic education, the bible, Qur'an and others have discussed some economic matters; though, it may be advisable to consult one of the best economic textbooks regarding economic matters.