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The TL;DR here is that the US economy has a lot of areas that are dominated by very few companies. Those companies are using the pandemic and the current infla

The TL;DR here is that the US economy has a lot of areas that are dominated by very few companies. Those companies are using the pandemic and the current inflation narrative as an excuse to raise prices, because they can get away with it due to lack of competition. In other words, many US markets are not even close to being free markets, in which one couldn't get away with this sort of thing. Oh, and BTW, although this is an opinion piece, Robert Reich is a former US Secretary of Labor and teaches economics and public policy at UC Berkeley. He's also a pretty cool dude, from what I hear.

maerF0x0 5y ago
I do wonder how much of this lack of competition is also due to consumers not trying alternatives? (as discussed in my post[1]) [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29203518 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29203518
- actually_a_dog 5y ago
  That's a good point. But, part of the problem is that, in many cases, the "alternatives" are just made by different parts of the same conglomerate. In other words, "choice" is sometimes illusory. See https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/29/starbucks-v-dunkin-how-capitalism-gives-us-the-illusion-of-choice https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/29/starbu... for example.
  - maerF0x0 5y ago
    It's particularly interesting that the article either failed to mention house brands / non branded alternatives. (or the numbers are so small they weren't worth mentioning...) For example I'm not talking about pepsi vs coke vs mecca cola, but something like Safeway Select or Walmart Great Value. As a consumer I would expect that to be the happy place for, no pun intended, great value for my money. These brands have nothing to offer but price and quality, and so I expect to get an excellent compromise of the two.
- salawat 5y ago
  There is also the problem that huge competitors can create value deserts via hyperoptimization rendering less optimized competitors from even getting a foot hold.

maerF0x0 5y ago

I do wonder how much of this lack of competition is also due to consumers not trying alternatives? (as discussed in my post[1]) [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29203518 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29203518

actually_a_dog 5y ago
That's a good point. But, part of the problem is that, in many cases, the "alternatives" are just made by different parts of the same conglomerate. In other words, "choice" is sometimes illusory. See https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/29/starbucks-v-dunkin-how-capitalism-gives-us-the-illusion-of-choice https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/29/starbu... for example.
- maerF0x0 5y ago
  It's particularly interesting that the article either failed to mention house brands / non branded alternatives. (or the numbers are so small they weren't worth mentioning...) For example I'm not talking about pepsi vs coke vs mecca cola, but something like Safeway Select or Walmart Great Value. As a consumer I would expect that to be the happy place for, no pun intended, great value for my money. These brands have nothing to offer but price and quality, and so I expect to get an excellent compromise of the two.
salawat 5y ago
There is also the problem that huge competitors can create value deserts via hyperoptimization rendering less optimized competitors from even getting a foot hold.