Bunhill: Berlin cartel

Saturday 08 August 1992 23:02 BST

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Meanwhile, in eastern Berlin, by the Brandenburg Gate in what was no man's land, there are 40 or 50 stalls selling Soviet forces' cap badges, fur hats and watches; die-cast models of Trabant cars and chips of paving slabs passed off as bits of the Berlin Wall. Perfect conditions for newly free people to explore the dynamics of the free market, you might think. No: each stall sells the same goods at precisely the same prices - cap badges for one mark, watches for 30 marks - in an informal but highly effective cartel. Surely a case for Sir Leon Brittan to investigate?

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