Why “oligopsony” is a great word
OLIGOPSONY — [Noun] An economic condition wherein a small number of buyers exert disproportionate control over the market price of a commodity, service, or labor. From Ancient Greek ὀλίγοι (olígoi, "few") + ὀψωνία (opsōnía, "purchase"). Unlike monopsony, which denotes the singular, feudal power of one purchaser, or oligopoly, which charts the collusive tyranny of a seller's cartel, oligopsony is the quiet, structural dominion of a buyer's cabal. It is the three grain conglomerates setting the price for a continent's wheat, the palpable chill in the auction barn when only three meatpackers bid, and the two publishing houses determining the worth of a manuscript—a consolidation of power so complete it masquerades as the natural order, a market where the many producers bend to the will of the few.