You're both saying the same thing, which boils down to supply and demand. Supply shocks (e.g., bird flu) result in price rises in the presence of relatively in

You're both saying the same thing, which boils down to supply and demand. Supply shocks (e.g., bird flu) result in price rises in the presence of relatively inelastic demand (e.g., consumer staples). In economic terms, "get away with it" means "what the market will bear". Find me a company that doesn't try to charge as much as it thinks it can to optimize for total profit when you account for decreased sales due to higher prices than other sellers in the market.