Economists praise "price discrimination" as "efficient." That's when a company charges customers different sums based on inferences about their willingness to pay. But when a firm sells you something for $2 that someone else can buy for $1, they're valuing the dollars in your pocket at half the rate of the other guy's.

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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/06/24/price-discrimination/#algorithmic-pricing

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