No one expects Archer-Daniels- Midland to change its advertising slogan from "Supermarket to the World" to "Price Fixer to the World." But that sobriquet would fit in the wake of the agribusiness giant's $100 million plea bargain last week with the Justice Department.
After years of denying any wrongdoing, the company pleaded guilty to conspiring to fix prices for the livestock feed-supplement lysine and for citric acid, an additive found in products from cosmetics to soft drinks. The $100 million fine, the largest ever levied in a criminal antitrust case, was more than six times the amount of the previous record...