[jongjong]

It sounds like it may be the result of standard corporate business practices. Lower prices, take on debt if necessary, until smaller players cannot compete, buy them all up for cheap, then once most of the smaller competitors are out of business (bought out or bankrupt), start pumping up the prices again and use the proceeds to pay off debts. Insiders can dump stocks based on record profit valuations.

[chii]

> start pumping up the prices again

what stops new entrants from reaping this price rise? Your monopoly would have to prevent new entrants from even starting. That would be where monopoly laws come into effect.

[jongjong]

They can, and the incentive is there but re-entering the market by starting from scratch is tough and takes time. They have to get the land, build the barns/hangars to keep the chickens, apply for licenses, buy equipment, find chicken feed distributors, find customers, etc... Then who knows, maybe by the time they're set up again and just starting to become profitable after a few years, the big corporation who control the egg market will pull the plug and send prices diving again... Pushing all the new entrants to bankruptcy then again the big corporation will be buying up their assets for cheap using cheap debt... Keep repeating over and over, just lobby politicians to add more red tape to control how long it takes to set up a business... That way the big corporation has a certain time window during which they can accumulate massive profits which they can later use to buy up competitors... They also use the interest rates to time everything. Take out a loan to buy businesses when interest rates are at their peak then ride the interest rates on the way down as you refinance and pay off your loans and watch your margins soar... All while your competitors are scrambling to try to take advantage of the high prices and spending tons of money setting up businesses which will belong to you in a few years' time.