is let’s—let’s put the prices on the board. Let’s all agree that’s what we’re gonna do and then walk out of

here and do it.

The price of lysine doubled while the cartel was in effect. Confronted by the FBI tapes, Archer Daniels Midland pled

guilty in 1996 and paid a fine of $100 million. A number of top executives, both at ADM and other firms, later paid
250 10 • Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly

fines of up to $350,000 and were sentenced to 24–30 months in prison.

In another one of the FBI recordings, the president of Archer Daniels Midland told an executive from another

competing firm that ADM had a slogan that, in his words, had “penetrated the whole company.” The company

president stated the slogan this way: “Our competitors are our friends. Our customers are the enemy.” That slogan

could stand as the motto of cartels everywhere.

How to Enforce Cooperation

How can parties who find themselves in a prisoner’s dilemma situation avoid the undesired outcome and
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