美国国家公共电台 NPR--The team at Planet Money has the scoop on tacit collusion

The team at Planet Money has the scoop¹ on tacit collusion

Transcript²

When it comes to fancy ice cream brands, H?agen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry's, each stay in their lanes. Is it just coincidence that one keeps things smooth and simple while the other is full of chunks³?

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

If you go to the ice cream section of your supermarket, you might notice the two big players don't make the same flavors. Haagen-Dazs makes mostly smooth flavors, like chocolate and coffee. Ben & Jerry's makes mostly chunky flavors. Think cookie dough⁴. Curious. Amanda Aronczyk of our Planet Money podcast looked into it and has this scoop.

AMANDA ARONCZYK, BYLINE⁵: If you ask Christopher Sullivan what's in his beloved Chunky Monkey ice cream, he will not hesitate to answer.

CHRISTOPHER SULLIVAN: Banana ice cream with walnuts⁶ and chunks of dark chocolate.

ARONCZYK: Christopher is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. And when he stares at these two brands in the freezer, he sees their relationship like an economist⁷.

SULLIVAN: Is this just the result of natural competition between these firms? Or is there something potentially beyond that going on?

ARONCZYK: He says that they could make both chunky and smooth flavors. Like, for Ben & Jerry's, it would be easy to simply not put the big chunks in.

SULLIVAN: You can't make Coffee Heath Bar Crunch⁸ without making coffee ice cream.

ARONCZYK: So Christopher suspected that perhaps these two companies weren't truly competing with each other. Maybe there was some kind of collusion, which would be bad for consumers. Prices could be higher. But was there anything illegal going on here? For that question, I went to Fiona Scott Morton, professor of economics at the Yale School of Management.

FIONA SCOTT MORTON: If you meet with the neighboring supermarket in the parking lot at the dead of night and set a price for something eggs - bananas, roast beef - that's illegal.

ARONCZYK: And indeed, this kind of parking lot price fixing really happens. Fiona says the key to such cases is proof of an explicit⁹ deal. But there is another kind of collusion, tacit collusion, no formal agreement between competitors. It's made up of subtle signals - your winks¹⁰, your nods. This is legal. So I asked Fiona about the ice cream case.

What would it take to put the ice cream execs into prison?

MORTON: Oh, I think they would have to talk to each other about either setting prices or not innovating¹¹ in each other's direction. And that conversation would need to be memorialized in a recording¹³ device or a memo¹² or something.

ARONCZYK: Proof. I went back to Christopher to ask if he had any. And he said, no, he hasn't found any.

SULLIVAN: I don't believe that either Ben & Jerry's or Haagen-Dazs engaged in any behavior that's illegal in the United States.

ARONCZYK: We heard from both Haagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry's, and they agree they have not colluded. They both say that they're just giving their customers what they want. But Christopher says that regardless of whether it's explicit or tacit collusion, when he looked at the data from 2006 to 2013, it affected¹⁴ the cost at the supermarket.

SULLIVAN: Prices are 20 to 50% higher for pints¹⁵ of Ben & Jerry's and Haagen-Dazs than they would have been if the firms had not coordinated¹⁶ on products and prices.

ARONCZYK: So OK, Christopher did this as a playful way to look at competition, but there are real implications. In markets with just two or three players, this kind of tacit collusion happens. And it makes me wonder about car rental¹⁷ companies, candy-makers, concert ticket sellers. Wherever you see a suspicious lack of competition, you should ask yourself, am I paying more because of this? Consider it a new economic standard for collusion. Does it pass the Chunky Monkey test? Amanda Aronczyk, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MICHAEL HEARST'S "TONES FOR CONES")

1 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

4 dough   

n.生面团；钱，现款

参考例句：

• She formed the dough into squares.她把生面团捏成四方块。
• The baker is kneading dough.那位面包师在揉面。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 walnuts   

胡桃（树）( walnut的名词复数 )； 胡桃木

参考例句：

• Are there walnuts in this sauce? 这沙司里面有核桃吗？
• We ate eggs and bacon, pickled walnuts and cheese. 我们吃鸡蛋，火腿，腌胡桃仁和干酪。

7 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

8 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

9 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

10 winks   

v.使眼色( wink的第三人称单数 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• I'll feel much better when I've had forty winks. 我打个盹就会感到好得多。
• The planes were little silver winks way out to the west. 飞机在西边老远的地方，看上去只是些很小的银色光点。 来自辞典例句

11 innovating   

v.改革，创新( innovate的现在分词 )；引入（新事物、思想或方法），

参考例句：

• In this new century, the company keeps innovating and developing new products. 新世纪伊始，公司全面实施形象工程及整合营销，不断改革创新，开发高新产品。 来自互联网
• Beijing is backward most prime cause is innovating at system lack. 北京落后的最根本原因在于制度缺乏创新。 来自互联网

12 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

13 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

14 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

15 pints   

n.品脱( pint的名词复数 )；一品脱啤酒

参考例句：

• I drew off three pints of beer from the barrel. 我从酒桶里抽出三品脱啤酒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Two pints today, please. 今天请来两品脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

17 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。