4 ms·

The article is specifically saying that in instances like yours, the problem isn't the large demand driving up prices - it's that businesses are driving it up e

by 93po 4y ago

The article is specifically saying that in instances like yours, the problem isn't the large demand driving up prices - it's that businesses are driving it up even beyond the natural demand price having been emboldened by the former.

hcurtiss 4y ago
But I have no means of doing that. It's a commodity market, and there are many, many suppliers competing with me, and ruthlessly. As pricing rose, we even saw surges in European imports. The only thing that drove up lumber prices was extraordinary demand. And if that happened for lumber, I'm inclined to believe that was the driving factor in other product prices too.
- iamwpj 4y ago
  If it's commodity, then it's traded on futures. Distributors would sell to retailers who shape consumer-facing pricing to maintain stability. Essentially, Home Depot sells out, looks to their supplier/distributor who says it'll be a few weeks to get enough to meet demand, commodity prices jump as demand increases for short term supply and Home Depot raises their prices. This is a fabricated sequence of events. It's the SEC/CME/FTC, etc's job to verify the following in this example: 1. Did Home Depot raise their prices _more_ than was necessary to respond to increasing consumer demand and decrease supply? 2. Did the suppliers stockpile or falsely report their availability to result in over charging? 3. Did pricing between sawmills/loggers and suppliers increases proportionally? Did pricing between retail and suppliers increase proportionally? These questions will help to understand possible unnatural inflation was introduced. In the sequence of events the sawmill behavior is just a single indicator along the way.
  - hcurtiss 4y ago
    Some lumber is traded on futures, some is not, but nearly all of it is manufactured to universal specifications (set dimensions and grades), making it a commodity market. Home Depot and the other box stores were constantly running out. We struggled for several quarters to keep the distribution centers supplied. The box stores were buying lumber everywhere they could. If they were price gouging, the consumer certainly didn't flinch, as quarter after quarter we witnessed historic take-away.
kodyo 4y ago
Sellers have a moral imperative to figure out how much their stuff is worth by charging as much as they can. When people stop buying what they’re selling, we know the product or service isn’t worth it, so the price comes back down.
- harimau777 4y ago
  According to what morality? Most religions and secular philosophies that I'm aware of don't believe that.
  - kodyo 4y ago
    Economic ideas that embrace human freedom and human flourishing are likely to consider truth a virtue. You won't find it in Marx, Keynes, etc.
    - denton-scratch 4y ago
      Defining "truth" and "virtue" is like nailing jelly to a wall; nobody agrees on what they are. That's why economists like Marx and Keynes didn't try to measure them. Essentially nobody that aspires to any kind of rigour appeals to truth and virtue.
  - gruez 4y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism
- pwinnski 4y ago
  If you're selling luxury goods, then sure, exercise your imaginary "moral imperative" all you want. When you're selling something people need to survive, like food or medicine, your moral imperative runs in the other direction, and profiteering at the expense of deep need is immoral in the extreme, especially if there are factors preventing competition so you have a captive market, like increased corporate concentration or a government-enforced monopoly.
- 93po 4y ago

by 93po 4y ago

hcurtiss 4y ago

But I have no means of doing that. It's a commodity market, and there are many, many suppliers competing with me, and ruthlessly. As pricing rose, we even saw surges in European imports. The only thing that drove up lumber prices was extraordinary demand. And if that happened for lumber, I'm inclined to believe that was the driving factor in other product prices too.

iamwpj 4y ago
If it's commodity, then it's traded on futures. Distributors would sell to retailers who shape consumer-facing pricing to maintain stability. Essentially, Home Depot sells out, looks to their supplier/distributor who says it'll be a few weeks to get enough to meet demand, commodity prices jump as demand increases for short term supply and Home Depot raises their prices. This is a fabricated sequence of events. It's the SEC/CME/FTC, etc's job to verify the following in this example: 1. Did Home Depot raise their prices _more_ than was necessary to respond to increasing consumer demand and decrease supply? 2. Did the suppliers stockpile or falsely report their availability to result in over charging? 3. Did pricing between sawmills/loggers and suppliers increases proportionally? Did pricing between retail and suppliers increase proportionally? These questions will help to understand possible unnatural inflation was introduced. In the sequence of events the sawmill behavior is just a single indicator along the way.
- hcurtiss 4y ago
  Some lumber is traded on futures, some is not, but nearly all of it is manufactured to universal specifications (set dimensions and grades), making it a commodity market. Home Depot and the other box stores were constantly running out. We struggled for several quarters to keep the distribution centers supplied. The box stores were buying lumber everywhere they could. If they were price gouging, the consumer certainly didn't flinch, as quarter after quarter we witnessed historic take-away.

kodyo 4y ago

Sellers have a moral imperative to figure out how much their stuff is worth by charging as much as they can. When people stop buying what they’re selling, we know the product or service isn’t worth it, so the price comes back down.

harimau777 4y ago
According to what morality? Most religions and secular philosophies that I'm aware of don't believe that.
- kodyo 4y ago
  Economic ideas that embrace human freedom and human flourishing are likely to consider truth a virtue. You won't find it in Marx, Keynes, etc.
  - denton-scratch 4y ago
    Defining "truth" and "virtue" is like nailing jelly to a wall; nobody agrees on what they are. That's why economists like Marx and Keynes didn't try to measure them. Essentially nobody that aspires to any kind of rigour appeals to truth and virtue.
- gruez 4y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism
pwinnski 4y ago
If you're selling luxury goods, then sure, exercise your imaginary "moral imperative" all you want. When you're selling something people need to survive, like food or medicine, your moral imperative runs in the other direction, and profiteering at the expense of deep need is immoral in the extreme, especially if there are factors preventing competition so you have a captive market, like increased corporate concentration or a government-enforced monopoly.
93po 4y ago