• dx1@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Price gouging coincidentally at the same time across the entire economy, soon after an enormous increase in the monetary supply.

      A—Aurora Borealis? At this time of year! At this time of day! In this part of the country! Localized entirely within your kitchen?!?

      • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Record high prices coinciding with record high profits and plunging cost of good sold, followed by even higher prices. They are testing to see what the pain thresholds are. All that’s gonna happen is that business will start to collapse as consumer spending plummets because people can barely afford to survive. Will the system autocorrect or collapse? Will the government ever enforce consumer protection laws ever again? ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

        • dx1@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Occam’s razor says the more simple/plausible explanation, that a huge increase in the monetary supply causing higher prices through supply and demand, is about a thousand times more plausible than tens of thousands of corporations simultaneously deciding to coordinate to fix prices despite that it’s in each of their best interests individually to break with that scheme. With no actual evidence of a concerted attempt across the entire economy to fix prices (not to be confused with a couple corporations having board meetings where someone bragged about raising prices).

          Or, in simple terms - it’s not that every single other good in the entire economy has suddenly become worth more as the result of some overarching conspiracy. It’s that they printed a bunch of money and it’s now worth less.

          I would recommend anyone who still believes the “greedflation” thing spends an hour reading some articles critical of the theory. Not really looking for a debate about it tbh.

          • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            “Not really looking for a debate about it tbh.”

            No, just the last word. There’s a lot more to it that clearly explains why it’s a systematic failure that led to this, and it’s a lot more complex that just over supply of cash. You can’t stop looking at other facts once you’ve researched just enough to find an answer you’re comfortable with.

            • NuanceDemon@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Your previous comment was basically a massive industry wide conspiracy theory though, so their response of a more sensible answer to give you something a bit more concrete to go on was pretty reasonable to me.

        • Agent641@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          The loan on my van is paid off, The bank is paying me interest on my savings again, I have a years worth of costco rice stored, and the campsites by the river where i live in my van is empty because everyone too broke to go on holiday. Life is sweet. (No part of this comment is hyperbole)

  • _TK@lemmy.antemeridiem.xyz
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    1 year ago

    The inflation report that came out today specifically omits fuel and grocery prices because those are “volatile” categories. My grocery bill is double what it was two years ago and has been for six months. I wouldn’t call that volatile.

  • diprount_tomato@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    My country’s news say we’re improving with a straight face. And I’m like “improving in what? Making the country sink more efficiently?”

  • FluffyPotato@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I wish my country’s government had the testacles to cap prices on food. I order food mostly online and I compared prices from 2 years ago and most things are at least 200% more expensive, cheese for example is like 600% though.

      • Chickenstalker@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        How so? In my country, certain basic food items are priced capped AND rationed, meaning you’re only allowed to buy a certain amount of it at a time.

        > but but but muh freedum market$$

        No! Worldwide, the agricultural sector is THE MOST SUBSIDISED economic field. You can’t have it both ways. If taxpayers’ money is used to prop up your business, you have a duty to the taxpayers and country.

      • FluffyPotato@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Most food here is locally produced, I don’t see how that would create a shortage. Like people aren’t going to sell their grocery stores cuz their margins are thin again and farming is so heavily subsidised that I don’t see it effecting farmers.

        • corm@sopuli.xyz
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          1 year ago

          *affecting

          And you’re wrong. Farmers and grocery stores are already operating on thin margins. Sure we could double subsidies but then why not just make food free instead? How about we just make food free for people who can’t afford it, maybe with some sort of special card

          • FluffyPotato@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Farmers yes, grocery stores not anymore. Profits of companies is public info here and they started racking it in the moment the massive ‘inflation’ started. My parents live near a farm and they just buy veggies directly from them for like a fraction of the price, I unfortunately live in a city though. Prices are better at local markets but there arent many of those.

        • Cleverdawny@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          If a local producer can get more selling to someone in the next country, they will. Basic economics. Prohibit them from doing so and they might plant something more profitable or just say “fuck it” and let their fields lie fallow, if they’re not making a profit. Farming ain’t free and farmers are on thin margins.

          • Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            Small farms are long gone. Farmers the the most heavily subsidized sector in the country, and they’re not run by Ma and pa, but big multi-national corporations who use extractive agriculture that damages the soil, results in worse yields than more sustainable agriculture, and requires insane amounts of chemical fertilizers, is rapidly contributing to the death of all of our most critical pollinators.

            I have really almost no sympathy for monoculture farmers who grow thousands of acres of almonds using trillions of gallons of water in a state perpetually under severe drought.

            Literally, just by seizing the lands used to grow alfalfa for Saudi Arabia and almonds in California, the majority of the country could be fed cheap on low water, low maintanence, high yield food forests. We don’t need to subsidize murder farms where pigs are fed to their children as slurry when that same land could be used for vertical gardening.

            The use of farmland for exclusively profit driven reasons is what drove the Great Depression. Farmers don’t deserve A profit if what they’re growing isn’t sustainable or catered towards the health of the people.

  • Kidplayer_666@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Well, thing is, some product categories probably aren’t suffering the same price hikes as groceries, fuel and rent. Stuff like cable and internet, clothing and office supplies are probably bringing the average down (please tell me if they’re having inflation, I pulled these categories out of my butt).

    • PenguinJuice@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      I hope we see deflation eventually… I know it’s not good for the economy but no one wants to pay 100 dollars for a coke

      • empireOfLove@lemmy.one
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        1 year ago

        This breaks the current economic system and will only occur safely once capitalistic GDP and population growth has ceased completely

    • HughJanus@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      It’s the Fed’s fault for overreacting to COVID and leaving rates at 0% for years. That shit has permanent consequences. A whole lot of people got insanely rich from a global tragedy.