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Everyone, stop staying "duh" to research outcomes. Research takes time to design, fund, run and analyze and it's purpose is to scientifically prove something we all "felt" a while ago.
Our feelings don't mean too much because they are often wrong, data backed fact means something. Start being happy about these validation posts and hold off on the pickachu face memes.
While the defence for science is nice (wasn't attacked here), outrage is allowed on public discourse. I think most people are outraged for the lack of inaction of regulatory bodies at the sight of extreme price fixing when everyone and their mother had at least the gut feeling that it is all bullshit.
I didn't need a study to tell you that. In my industry the costs of all my goods are up roughly 30% since 2020, but my margins have gotten thinner at the same time so my revenue somehow managed to magically remain exactly the same. And it's no coincidence, I'm sure, that the manufacturers are the ones who determine the Minimum Advertising Price I'm supposed to be selling at.
If that 30% number sounds awfully familiar, you'll find it in the linked article. So, profits for megacorporations rose 30%, and my costs rose 30%, too. Gee, will you look at that. Those two numbers are the same. That's a fuckin' puzzler, isn't it?
So some asshole somewhere in that supply chain pyramid is making a lot of money off of this "inflation" excuse, and it sure as hell isn't me.
It's because there hasn't been any meaningful anti trust enforcement for decades. Every industry is basically an oligopoly at this stage, so they can set whatever price they want, because they know their competitors will do the same (because they face the exact same pressures from the exact same shareholders to increase profits).
If it was a free market, you could've found a different supplier, but obviously there was no alternative, or you would've done just that.
Oligopolies that run both horizontally and vertically up the supply chain.
This is what happens after decades of mergers and acquisitions in the name of diversification, and corruption of regulators and governments — a small number of multinationals, owned by an even smaller number of oligarchs, reach a point of control where it is relatively easy to collude with the handful of others that collectively own 90% of every market and sector, and operate as a functional monopoly.
It's the OPEC-ification of the entire global economy. It is of no surprise that fossil fuel oligarchs applied that model to everything, nor that the governments they own continue to enable their crimes. We're all hostages to the economic terrorists of capitalism.
Great comment, sincerely - completely nails it. My only nitpick (and only delivered cuz you clearly care) is I don't think it should be called terrorism.
Terrorism, as hate-fueled and damaging as it is, at least has an ethos, an organizing principle, a (generally twisted, but coherent) morality. These monsters have nothing so human to stand behind. As you know, it's nothing more complicated than "fuck every life on earth but mine, for no reason more compelling than that I want even more stuff". Terrorists actually compare favorably against that.
Lets call it cancer then
Growth to the detriment of literally everything around it
free markets build monopolies, the only reason we are only at oligopoly is that we still have some regulation on the market (that inherently makes it not free btw)
Literally anyone with a functioning brain already knew this. And yet, there will be no penalty for this bullshit.
Eh with how this conversation has been evolving lately I'd say this is the worst time to be pessimistic about the possibility of regulation. Is a good time to be loud and angry about it tho
Oh no, this is such a shock. No shit they were lying about inflation. Those bastards were reporting record highs while the average Joe was struggling to pay rent.
Well they got told to knock it off nicely. So I guess they will lower prices now. 🙄
The egg producers already have.
The "bird flu" was nowhere significant enough to cause the price spike on its own. It was an attempt to determine "what the market will allow". And it turns out people can do without eggs quite comfortably.
They just went too far too fast and found out they aren't the staple they thought they were. They also didn't have enough market penetration when some stores had protected supply lines and did not raise their egg price.
The beginnings of a list:
"The biggest perpetrators were energy companies like Shell, Exxon Mobil, and Chevron, which were able to enjoy massive profits last year"
If you can find any way to go electric, use petrol less, ride a bike, walk, use a train, avoid a plane, etc, go for it. Prolly the petrol corps won't notice your individual actions, but the carbon you'll keep out of the atmosphere might just help to keep our planet's ecosphere viable.
The Study itself: INFLATION, PROFITS AND MARKET POWER TOWARDS A NEW RESEARCH AND POLICY AGENDA - https://www.ippr.org/files/2023-12/1701878131_inflation-profits-and-market-power-dec-23.pdf - Jeebus, 32 pages!
but the carbon you’ll keep out of the atmosphere might just help to keep our planet’s ecosphere viable.
This is only if nations stop burning oil even if it's cheap.
Nations aren't going to stop burning oil until it's too expensive.
I drive electric and in my home state of Georgia, USA they have an ad valorem tax of 239 dollars or there abouts for people that drive Evs and plug in hybrids.
My theory is that they're missing out on the taxes I would normally pay if I bought gas and need to recoup their losses.
They needed studies for that? Shoot they could have just asked me!
Me after reading the headline, "duh?".
I'm biased because I'm a scientist, but verifying observations and assumptions through empirical methods is typically a good thing. A lot of people believe "common sense" things that are completely wrong, e.g., that lightning never strikes twice, evolution has some sort of goal in mind, to never go to bed angry, etc.
Capitalists? Lying about literally everything?
Who coulda thunk it?
But ...? But market forces! Free market! The public will decide! No? Oh well, let's do nothing and see if it changes for the better.
The title of this post might as well be "Water is wet, the sky is blue, ice is cold"
Of course corporations are lying to have a reason to raise prices when they don't need to.
I want a well curated list of the worst offenders so I can figure out who to stop giving my money to.
You will be surprised how difficult that plan is to implement. Pretty much everything is owned by a few mega corporations.
Duh. Finance bros will still tell you different though.
They will tell you it's because of the increase in wages, and then refuse to believe the data when you show them that wages have stagnated.
So you're telling me it doesn't cost twice as much to make and ship charcoal. It doesn't cost three times as much to grow a head of lettuce? Those sneaky snooks who make house paint have some 'splaining to do too.
They were also lying about closing stores because of too much shoplifting
In a market that expects infinite growth in a finite reality, I can assure you that I'm not the least bit surprised that companies are using "inflation" as an excuse to gouge their customers for what increasingly little they have
The Nordics I think figured out a solution to this,
You might be familiar with all the classic arguments decrying rent controls for causing supply shortages as people refuse to give up their RCd housing,
Well up in northern Europe they don't have rent control, they have rent hike control, basically you can only raise rent by a given percentage at most per year, in the US, we could tie that percentage cap to the percent change change in federal interest rates, pass some of that market rally back to the consumers since a rate drop leads to a mandatory profit margin drop to match.
The Nordics I think figured out a solution to this,
The French did too, it's called the guillotine.
You don't say
No way
Bread and circuses only work when people can afford the bread and circuses. But capitalism demands growth at the cost of all else. The only way out of this mess is when it eats its own tail I imagine. Some say the inevitable collapse of society should be hastened for the greater good. Obviously that’s far too simple a statement, but I’m not well versed on it. Someone hit me with your 2 cents.
Of course corporations are lying to have a reason to raise prices.
The executives at every corpo would throw a million puppies into a wood chipper if it gained them an extra penny.
Not surprised. Black rock company is probably in the lead when it comes to that.
