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Dear reader,

Peter Thiel famously once said that competition is for losers. As it turns out, big business agrees. Increased market competition should lead to decreased prices for consumers, but for CEOs interested in increasing profits and shareholder value at the expense of the public, competing on price in an open market is a race to the bottom. Why not instead work together to grow industry's profits?

Technically, corporate collusion is against the law, and so companies can't literally coordinate with each other to fix prices. Enter third party middlemen like RealPage for real estate or Agri Stats for the meat industry, which aggregate vast amounts of sensitive consumer market data and use AI and machine learning algorithms to set prices on behalf of their clients.

For our June print issue, Luke Goldstein wrote about how corporations are increasingly using algorithmic pricing to rig the market against customers and fix prices, and what federal regulators can do about it. You can read the full story here. [link removed]

READ MORE >> [link removed]

Our June print issue, a collaboration with Groundwork Collaborative, is out now! In this issue, we explore how corporations use novel pricing strategies to grow record profits at the expense of the public, and how these tactics affect your everyday life.

Over the next two weeks, we'll be rolling out the issue one story at a time, covering everything from surveillance pricing to junk fees to medical bills and grocery pricing. You can read the issue online as it comes out here??>> [link removed]

THE PRICING ISSUE >> [link removed]

Every day, our small but mighty team works hard to bring you the news you need on a shoestring budget. We're a nonprofit newsroom, and we don't have corporate backers or billionaire donors to subsidize our work. To make special projects like this month's issue possible, we rely on the generosity of our readers, who chip in a few dollars at a time to fund our work.

By becoming a member today for just a few dollars a month, not only will you be eligible to receive our print magazine, but you'll also receive member benefits including special events, exclusive member access and video content, and more.

If you're already a member, thank you for your support!

We work hard for your trust, and our members say they're getting their money's worth. Won't you join them? [link removed]

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Thanks for being a part of this,

David Dayen
Executive Editor
The American Prospect

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