When Computers Collude

NOTE: This is an excerpt of Planet Money's newsletter. You can sign up here. If you shop online, there's a good chance the price you pay for stuff is determined by a computer algorithm. As of 2015, over one third of the 1,600 best-selling items sold on Amazon came from sellers who used algorithms to set their price. Algorithms are spreading like crazy, but are they giving companies too much power over consumers?