A passage from Chapter 1 that I found particularly interesting was about how firms find ways to compete even when prices are fixed. I have wondered before why airlines changed from trying to make flying comfortable and enjoyable to letting it be crowded and unpleasant. Although I knew that this change had something to do with lowering prices, I hadn't previously realized that the prices were initially fixed and the change came about when they were no longer fixed. I also didn't realize just how much the prices dropped once the airlines started competing to lower prices rather than to make the flight more comfortable (the average airline ticket (adjusted for inflation) fell by almost half when price became the distinguishing factor between tickets rather than the quality of the flight). The idea of competition over the quality of a good once its price is fixed was an idea that I hadn't thought about much before. However, although I do wish that flights were generally more pleasant, I would rather there be competition over price and be able to get a cheaper ticket.
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