6 television firms were recently fined £1.2 Billion for colluding to fix prices of cathode rays in televisions. The result of this collusion was higher prices for consumers and thus larger profits for the television firms.

The article can be read here.

This shows the EU Competition Commission using its powers to prevent consumers losing out. It is also worth noting that the television firms undertook this price fixing by increasing the price of cathode rays, as oppose to the price of TVs themselves. Perhaps one reason behind this decision was because it is easier to monitor the price of cathode rays and hence this prevents cheating by any one member of the cartel.

It is also surprising that this story hasn’t gained much attention in the media and was barely mentioned in the Economist, despite the record fine and the detriment to consumers!