Did grocery chains take advantage of COVID shortages to raise prices? FTC says yes in new report
Did grocery chains take advantage of COVID shortages to raise prices? FTC says yes in new report
Large grocery store chains raised prices well above their costs during the pandemic's supply-chain bottlenecks and product shortages, FTC report says.
You're viewing a single thread.
This is just capitalism working as intended. The fact that these price increases are being sold as some kind of abnormality is some real neolib brain in action. It isn't "greedflation," it's literally the same capitalism we've lived with for centuries.
And then go one step further and realize it's always been shit. The only time the world has been great has been when kings and capitalism are on a VERY short leash.
It isn't "greedflation," it's literally the same capitalism we've lived with for centuries.
You're both absolutely right and very wrong: it by definition IS greedflation, inflated prices due to greed.
While it is indeed caused by the same capitalist system we've lived with for centuries, it's getting much worse than it has been now that the billionaires and their corporations have realized that there's no consequences even when their profiteering is so blatant that even the likes of Forbes and WSJ are having to acknowledge what they've been able to distract from before.
There is no penalties for collision. Regulation should prevent but since politicians are owned and there's zero effort at enforcment here we are.
There's no such thing as greed in capitalism, though. Rather, greed is the understood foundation from which capitalism is based on. It only works when there is greed. Companies shouldn't avoid raising their prices because they don't want more money, they're supposed to (in capitlism). The system only works when they raise their prices as much as the market will bear.
My grevience with the term "Greedflation" popping up so much recently is that it feels like a cop-out from the current administration to ease economic anxiety without replacing or criticizing the overall economic model. It paints price hikes as a one-time, circumstantial "quirk" of our times, instead of the logical realization of capitalism that it is.
Ive no idea why this is downvoted. This is not a bad take.
I would personally frame it as, greed is a feature of capitalism, not a bug, but ur not wrong either.
When you say "neolib" are you referring the Neoliberal economic philosophy, or some slang term for modern political liberals?
I ask because Neoliberal Economics is all about this profit, and share holders first, type values. This is in contrast to the post Great Depression, Classical Economics philosophy where companies valued employees first, and shareholders last.
I ask because Neoliberal Economics is all about this profit, and share holders first, type values.
Sounds exactly like modern political liberals to me.
Really?
Most Democrat Politicians today certainly are on board. But they were late to buy in. The Republicans actually introduced Neoliberal Economics into politics, chiefly with Ronald Regan.
Today it's mostly the liberal side of the Democratic Party that introduces legislation to curb all the excesses of Neoliberal Economics.