Although, the technology in Old Man's War is pretty erratic.

Everything seems to boil down to "magic" nanites and what they can and cannot do. The soldiers all run around with one nano-tech gun that can transform itself into anything on a whim. They even replace their blood with the stuff.

However, guns and soldiers bodies are apparently the only things that benefit from this nanotech miracle. None of the spaceships seem to be capable of any self repair or modification. The soldiers don't even deploy with tanks or planes because those rifles they carry are just so awesome or something (?).

And yet, history is rife with examples of laissez faire economics leading to large trusts and cartels being formed as the largest players in the markets collude.

Just a few years ago we had an issue of RAM makers colluding to fix prices.

I think it is a very good thing that there are strict laws forcing companies to remain competitive with each other.