ABSTRACT
Carroll’s novel, published in 1893 but by his account largely written by 1885, contains this passage describing an initial situation in which the egg merchant acts as a price-discriminating monopolist. When his customers recognize that they can combine to their advantage, however, both buyers and sellers have market power. That ‘the manuscript breaks off here’ could indicate two things: that Carroll did not know how to solve the problem, or the indeterminacy of price in such a situation.1
