Carl Shapiro, on leave from Berkeley.

[T]ough economic times . . . are exactly the times when suppliers may be most likely to seek some relaxation of the antitrust laws and most tempted to collude.

[A] good argument can be made that suppliers will be especially tempted to collude when they are facing tough times and have substantial excess capacity.

Carl Shapiro, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economics, Antitrust Division, U.S. Dept. of Justice, "Competition Policy in Distressed Industries", May 13, 2009.

 For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings.