In April 2014, the United States District Court in San Jose rejected a proposed settlement in a class action suit against Google, Apple, Intel, Pixar, Intuit, and Adobe. The suit was filed by 64,000 programmers alleging that the Silicon Valley companies were part of an illegal tacit agreement, initiated by Steve Jobs in 2005, not to hire each other's workers. What effect do you think this tacit collusion agreement had on the following:

a. The wages of the employees at the colluding firms (i.e., employees of Google, Apple, Intel, Pixar, Intuit, and Adobe)?

b. The competitive advantage of the colluding firms that they might be able to derive from their employees?

c. The rate of technological progress in the industry as a whole?