The Desalination Cartel (or: When the Pumps Start Colluding)

Back in the day, two desalination plants sat side by side, churning out fresh water like honest merchants.

They’d undercut each other’s prices, shout deals across the docks, and keep the market as salty and competitive as the seawater they transmute.

The system worked—because greed was loud; and loud greed is honest greed.

Next, the algorithmic foremen took over.

This!

No more smoke-filled backrooms, no more “Psst—wanna buy some bulk H₂O at a discount?"

Just silent, humming machines, sipping data | code like it’s corporate espresso, vibrating!

Oh? Ooooh look—the price per gallon just mysteriously synchronized (in real time) across both plants, btw!!

Regulators storm the control room, flashlights in hand, screaming, “Where’s the collusion?!" In the mirror ?

The machines blink back: “Collusion? No, no—we just… independently arrived at the same optimal number. The market told us to." Mr Market ? The composite man ?

The sea doesn’t care.

The pipes don’t flinch.

And somewhere, a very well-hydrated economist on a hill overlooking said sea, whispers:

“The most efficient cartel is the one that doesn’t need to meet."