Cite as: 509 U. S. 209 (1993)
Stevens, J., dissenting
I
The fact that a price war may not have accomplished its purpose as quickly or as completely as originally intended does not immunize conduct that was illegal when it occurred. A proper understanding of this case therefore requires a brief description of the situation before the war began in July 1984; the events that occurred during the period between July 1984 and the end of 1985; and, finally, the facts bearing on the predictability of competitive harm during or at the end of that period.3
Background
B&W is the third largest firm in a highly concentrated industry. Ante, at 213. For decades, the industry has been marked by the same kind of supracompetitive pricing that is characteristic of the textbook monopoly.4 Without the necessity of actual agreement among the six major manufacturers, "prices for cigarettes increased in lockstep, twice a year, for a number of years, irrespective of the rate of inflation, changes in the costs of production, or shifts in consumer demand." Ibid. Notwithstanding the controversy over the health effects of smoking and the increase in the federal excise tax, profit margins improved "handsomely" during the period between 1972 and 1983.5
3 As the majority notes, the procedural posture of this case requires that we view the evidence in the light most favorable to Liggett. Ante, at 213. On review of a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, the party against whom the judgment is entered "must be given the benefit of every legitimate inference that can be drawn from the evidence." See C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2528, pp. 563-564 (1971).
4 When the Court states that "[s]ubstantial evidence suggests that in recent decades, the industry reaped the benefits of prices above a competitive level," ante, at 213, I assume it accepts the proposition that a reasonable jury could find abnormally high prices characteristic of this industry.
5 An internal B&W memorandum, dated May 15, 1984, states in part: "Manufacturer's price increases generally were below the rate of inflation but margins improved handsomely due to favorable leaf prices and
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