The only thing that prevents 'merchants colluding' ie rigging of the market is a strong and firm regulatory institutional framework. It has been proven to work in the past before the politicians were bought by the corporates. What we have now is certain to fail- it is failing- it is seeing the west incapable of competing with China where market rigging inefficiency IS NOT TOLERATED. An example of this is Jack Mas sidelining when he challenged the CCPs plans for digital payments via his Alipay platform...but he is far from alone- it is well known to Chinese citizens and businesses that the state WILL respond to and prevent any individual coming to dominate any market to the extent of preventing competition. Something Libertarians might find surprising but the CCP politburo simply do not tolerate any cartels or monopolies because they know such structure reduce your competitive advantage relative to the nation states you are competing with. Thus China now has the lowest cost manufacturing and pays the highest price for commodities- thus it controls global markets...just like the US once did when it still regulated markets via its anti trust laws- before its political structures and regulatory structures were captured by rentseeking corporate lobbyists. It requires good governance and focused governance to prevent market rigging and the 'socialist' government of China is demonstrably doing a far better job than the crony capitalist west. Strong economies require a strong and principled government- there is no example in history of a strong productive and competitive economy existing without the oversight and strategic guidance of the nation state. None.