• Omega@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    41
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    6 months ago

    Public demand and competition drove prices down. Since Covid reset prices, and stockholders demand growth, companies will continue to price gouge until customers say it’s enough.

    This is just what capitalism looks like.

    • PopOfAfrica@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      60
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      6 months ago

      The problem is where things are getting the most expensive, that being food and housing, the markets are captured. You can’t just say no to having food and housing.

      This is where regulation is supposed to step in.

      • Jimmybander@champserver.net
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        6 months ago

        Corporate ownership of housing is a major problem that no legislator seems to be handling. The Feds should start building and selling houses to individuals themselves. I believe that is one way to lower housing costs and increasing private ownership.

      • iopq@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        arrow-down
        13
        ·
        6 months ago

        Food tracks the general inflation closely, it hasn’t actually gone up faster than the inflation in any meaningful way

        • sylver_dragon@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          18
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          6 months ago

          Food tracks the general inflation closely

          That’s a fine bit of bit circular logic there. The price of food is used in the BLS’s basket of goods for calculating the Consumer Price Index (CPI). So yes, the goods used to track inflation do, in fact, track with inflation.

          That said, the US economy (at a macro level) is doing rather well considering that we weathered a global pandemic, we have a war on in Europe involving one of the world’s major oil and gas suppliers and inflation has been stubbornly high. Yet somehow, wages are up and unemployment is at historic lows. Seriously, if the administration could actually do something about the housing situation and prices rising, this election would look a lot more like 2008 than 2016. But unfortunately, people vote based on how they feel, not on an analysis of macro-economics. So long as people fell like the gains they have made are being squeezed back out of them via rising prices, the incumbent president is in trouble. When you get down to it, it’s still the economy, stupid.

            • HubertManne@kbin.social
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              6 months ago

              most of the increases were actually before this last year. im not sure that is the best time frame. at least for me the big effects where seen in a year or two of inflation but its tapped down now comparatively.

              • iopq@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                6 months ago

                Yeah, when Russia was blocking the Black Sea and Ukrainian farmers couldn’t get the grain out. Can only blame Biden for not shipping enough weapons to Ukraine

    • prole@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      6 months ago

      Public demand and competition drove prices down.

      Prices have never gone down.

      Costs for the corporations may have, but that has never (and will never) been passed on to customers.