3 ms·

This happened recently with price gouging disguised as inflation as well. It seems to be a common business tactic for corps at over over a certain size.

nightski 2y ago
Markets finding the price which balances supply and demand is not price gouging. Demand went up because it was suppressed during the pandemic and there was also extra savings in the economy (due to saving during the pandemic + stimulus and overall increase in money supply).
- tempfile 2y ago
  There is no objective difference between finding the balance of supply and demand and price gouging.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - nightski 2y ago
    No, price gouging is taking advantage of short term manipulations in supply and demand. If this happened during the pandemic then you might have a case. However what we are seeing now are long term, permanent changes to demand due monetary inflation.
    - tempfile 2y ago
      I really can't make sense of what you wrote here. "taking advantage of short term manipulations in supply and demand" - assuming by "manipulations" you just mean "changes" here (since I don't really know how someone can manipulate demand) - this is just how markets find prices in general. Maybe you mean manipulations in supply, for example a vendor holding onto products instead of selling them in order to drive up the price. But again, this is just how markets find prices: vendors refuse to sell products until buyers pay a price they find acceptable. It remains true that this is not objectively distinguishable from price gouging. Gouging is just a word for "finding prices that I think aren't fair".
      - nightski 2y ago
        You can manipulate demand by increasing/decreasing the supply of capital. Cheap interest rates, stimulus checks, government deficit spending, etc...
riscy 2y ago
It’s not about size. Maximizing profit without losing too many customers is a major focus of business education.
- jklinger410 2y ago
  The only reason I single out bigger businesses is because when you've captured a market and made it sufficiently difficult to leave, testing a max price is easy. It's usually very difficult and risky.
diob 2y ago
When companies dominate a market, even with a few competitors, collusion and price gouging often follow. Weak antitrust enforcement has enabled these practices, limiting competition, inflating prices, and stifling innovation. This not only harms consumers but also holds back economic growth. Strengthening antitrust policies could curb monopolistic behavior, promote fair pricing, and restore market competition.
micah94 2y ago
Inflation is (was originally) the increase in monetary supply (when the Fed buys treasuries and prints money). That absolutely happened big time. And we're no where near back to 2020 levels. See: https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttrends.htm https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttren... Notice how the level of inflation kind of matches the balance sheet curve if you assume the peak was that 9% (~June 2022)...now we're back down to ~3%. But the Fed is talking about lowering rates, not increasing them further (because we're just magically on some 'glide path' back down to 2% I guess). I suppose you'll call that price gouging as well when inflation flares up again? Some of what's being "disguised" here are the definitions of words. Just saying there are other factors at play. It's not all about the big bad corporations.

nightski 2y ago

Markets finding the price which balances supply and demand is not price gouging. Demand went up because it was suppressed during the pandemic and there was also extra savings in the economy (due to saving during the pandemic + stimulus and overall increase in money supply).

tempfile 2y ago
There is no objective difference between finding the balance of supply and demand and price gouging.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- nightski 2y ago
  No, price gouging is taking advantage of short term manipulations in supply and demand. If this happened during the pandemic then you might have a case. However what we are seeing now are long term, permanent changes to demand due monetary inflation.
  - tempfile 2y ago
    I really can't make sense of what you wrote here. "taking advantage of short term manipulations in supply and demand" - assuming by "manipulations" you just mean "changes" here (since I don't really know how someone can manipulate demand) - this is just how markets find prices in general. Maybe you mean manipulations in supply, for example a vendor holding onto products instead of selling them in order to drive up the price. But again, this is just how markets find prices: vendors refuse to sell products until buyers pay a price they find acceptable. It remains true that this is not objectively distinguishable from price gouging. Gouging is just a word for "finding prices that I think aren't fair".
    - nightski 2y ago
      You can manipulate demand by increasing/decreasing the supply of capital. Cheap interest rates, stimulus checks, government deficit spending, etc...

riscy 2y ago

It’s not about size. Maximizing profit without losing too many customers is a major focus of business education.

jklinger410 2y ago
The only reason I single out bigger businesses is because when you've captured a market and made it sufficiently difficult to leave, testing a max price is easy. It's usually very difficult and risky.

diob 2y ago

When companies dominate a market, even with a few competitors, collusion and price gouging often follow. Weak antitrust enforcement has enabled these practices, limiting competition, inflating prices, and stifling innovation. This not only harms consumers but also holds back economic growth. Strengthening antitrust policies could curb monopolistic behavior, promote fair pricing, and restore market competition.

micah94 2y ago

Inflation is (was originally) the increase in monetary supply (when the Fed buys treasuries and prints money). That absolutely happened big time. And we're no where near back to 2020 levels. See: https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttrends.htm https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttren... Notice how the level of inflation kind of matches the balance sheet curve if you assume the peak was that 9% (~June 2022)...now we're back down to ~3%. But the Fed is talking about lowering rates, not increasing them further (because we're just magically on some 'glide path' back down to 2% I guess). I suppose you'll call that price gouging as well when inflation flares up again? Some of what's being "disguised" here are the definitions of words. Just saying there are other factors at play. It's not all about the big bad corporations.