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Car makers like Jaguar Land Rover and Peugeot have been accused of using special software to raise spare parts prices.
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2018/06/04/car-makers-used-software-to-raise-spare-parts-prices/
Ever had the nagging suspicion that your car's manufacturer was charging outrageous prices for parts simply because it could? Software might be to blame. Reuters has obtained documents from a lawsuit indicating that Jaguar Land Rover, Peugeot, Renault and other automakers have been using Accenture software (Partneo) that recommended price increases for spare parts based on "perceived value." If a brand badge or other component looked expensive, Partneo would suggest raising the price up to a level that drivers would still be willing to pay. It would even distinguish parts based on whether or not there was "pricing supervision" over certain parts (say, from insurance companies or focused publications) to avoid sparking an outcry.
(Score: 3, Informative) by quietus on Tuesday June 05 2018, @07:47PM
You should mention Sulla [wikipedia.org] here as the first to effectively exploit the inequality within Roman society for grasping near-unrestricted power. You should also stress the importance of the publicani [wikipedia.org], and not merely the political class, in creating this inequality. It is true that, to make the climb on the societal ladder -- the cursus honorum [wikipedia.org] -- vast amounts of money were needed, partly to create favour with the masses, and partly to create favour with more advanced members in the cursus honorum. To get those sums, loans were needed from rich businessmen -- the publicani -- in exchange, ofcourse, for profitable outsourcing contracts in future.
As a well-written description of the whole process, I can recommend Rubicon, by Tom Holland.
As to the deeper moral of the story: when you hear a politician preaching about the private sector being more efficient at something currently done by public administration (and throwing in some promise of tax cuts for the masses), you should know what's going on.