Tony, Pretty MuchJust going to tag this #inflation or more specifically #corporategreed
Rob@TonyStark inflation is what you get when you pay the prices as they increase, which only stops when you dont
@robfielding So your plan is people just quit eating and driving to work? Cool, cool.
@TonyStark but that is what caused gas to go to almost $1 during the pandemic. you can definitely stop going to restaraunts, and prices will get pushed down. i am just noting that inflation is a lot simpler than it sounds.
@robfielding not quite.
Corporate profits have contributed disproportionately to inflation. How should policymakers respond? | Economic Policy Institute
Corporate profits have contributed disproportionately to inflation. How should policymakers respond?
The inflation spike of 2021 and 2022 has presented real policy challenges. In order to better understand this policy debate, it is imperative to look at prices and how they are being affected. The price of just about everything in the U.S. economy can be broken down into the three main components of cost. These…
@TonyStark but what i am saying is the corporate profits and inflation go together. if you kept paying the higher prices, then they continued to rise. prices only fell when you figured out how to stop paying their price; the only way the price will go down. the companiesfind ways to get obese on their newly inflated prices. it takes pain for them to bring prices back down.
@robfielding Yes, I see what you’re saying. What you’re saying is unfortunately wrong when companies often have a monopoly over services and those services are necessary. It’s not a simple supply/demand model anymore. I’m sure I don’t have to explain to to you how stock options and buy outs work and how that subverts markets. We don’t have a free market. It requires further intervention.
@TonyStark perhaps, but they raise prices because they get away with it. I think people vastly over-estimate monopoly power though. It is so easy for a company to get killed in its sleep now.
Dilan Gilluly@robfielding @TonyStark sure, let me go months without buying groceries. Because monopoly and duopoly powers control those markets too.
lldgirl@robfielding @TonyStark they get away with it because there are a handful of companies that control everything, food, fuel, etc…
TengrainWe also have the condition of monopsony (which is different than a monopoly), in which there is only one buyer for the product, because we have allowed the markets to consolidate on the retail side.
The proposed merger between Kroeger and Albertson’s will have a HUGE impact (for instance).
Let’s say you’ve cornered the market on a canned food product, and you can charge a premium for that product! Wwah-ha-ha!
But, if there is only one retailer you can sell that canned good to, they can (and do) say, “No, we won’t put it on our shelves unless it costs us only this.”
Your monopoly just lost to their monopsony.
Don’t believe me?
Ask Huffy Bikes and Vlassic Pickles about Walmart.
They had to go offshore to lower their manufacturing costs to satisfy their retailer.
Consolidation effs-up everyone in the equation.
@robfielding @Tengrain Thank you, TG. You always get to the heart of the matter.
@Tengrain @TonyStark The problem is that the monopolies only exist because we let that happen in the first place. :-(
Starbucks is like a McD of $6 coffee. They would die overnight if instead of Unionizing, whole crews just started a shop.
The problem starts with too many people working for a big-ass company for peanuts, rather than starting small shops (for peanuts!). And customers falling into crap-buying habits.
Takemusu@robfielding @TonyStark I’m just gonna stick it to the man. I gots my 1 artichoke here growing on the deck. Getting a chicken and a cow. I’m sure the HOA won’t mind a bit. Who needs a grocery store? 😉
@TonyStark I have been dealing with this especially with regards to insulin and diabetes supplies. I went blind most of last month; as I got down to rationing the supplies. Doctors think I am crazy when I ask how much anything costs and say: "But you have insurance." with a puzzled face.
@robfielding High income earners sometimes have trouble seeing from the perspective of those with less. I would generally expect someone in healthcare would realize costs are fucked but maybe the doc isn't aware that shit insurance is a thing....
@robfielding @TonyStark that’s only in a true free market. We don’t have that here in the USA.
@TonyStark It's hard to fight by beating on companies by passing laws, when consumers aren't giving them the beatings they deserve. By the time laws are passed, they work around it. Usually by moving things overseas, and paying off lawmakers for loopholes.
@TonyStark As an example, I was once at a tech meetup in DC. Congressional staffers showed up, asking how to version-control legislation. They wanted to tweet diff changes to legislation, so you can see it being edited late at night just before it's voted on. The companies being regulated sometimes are the authors of the regulation; to beat down their competitors and give themselves a loophole.