Collusion with competitors to fix or restrict a price of a good in a market is one of the easier antitrust cases to pursue, especially if it's nicely documented in email.
Engineering salaries were likely depressed due to this non–compete cartel.
OPEC can do this with oil since it's not under US jurisdiction. US airlines, for example, cannot phone each other up and say "Let's agree to price JFK-SFO at $500 each way." They can observe what each other charges for a given ticket and make a decision to price their own fare accordingly, but they cannot act in concert.
Engineering salaries were likely depressed due to this non–compete cartel.
OPEC can do this with oil since it's not under US jurisdiction. US airlines, for example, cannot phone each other up and say "Let's agree to price JFK-SFO at $500 each way." They can observe what each other charges for a given ticket and make a decision to price their own fare accordingly, but they cannot act in concert.