For most of my life eggs were a loss leader and could always be found for under $2 a dozen. Why would they suddenly get the idea to form a cartel? Wasn't it always obvious they should do that? Did they used to be paragons of virtue, then decided to get evil for no reason?

Seems to me there must have been some new incentive structure in place.

Sometimes it all boils down to someone saying "what if" and trying something and seeing if it sticks. I guess the avian flu was a good excuse to hide the crime just like what happens in die hard 3 with the distractions of bomb in schools.

The story covers this. An oligopoly of producers and market makers has formed. Where once there were many small players, now small players are few, and the bulk of egg supply is passing through a few huge producers and brokers.