- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
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The title of this post might as well be “Water is wet, the sky is blue, ice is cold”
Of course corporations are lying to have a reason to raise prices when they don’t need to.
I am completely surprised that corporations would lie and cheat and steal to profit.
In a market that expects infinite growth in a finite reality, I can assure you that I’m not the least bit surprised that companies are using “inflation” as an excuse to gouge their customers for what increasingly little they have
The beginnings of a list:
“The biggest perpetrators were energy companies like Shell, Exxon Mobil, and Chevron, which were able to enjoy massive profits last year”
If you can find any way to go electric, use petrol less, ride a bike, walk, use a train, avoid a plane, etc, go for it. Prolly the petrol corps won’t notice your individual actions, but the carbon you’ll keep out of the atmosphere might just help to keep our planet’s ecosphere viable.The Study itself: INFLATION, PROFITS AND MARKET POWER TOWARDS A NEW RESEARCH AND POLICY AGENDA - https://www.ippr.org/files/2023-12/1701878131_inflation-profits-and-market-power-dec-23.pdf - Jeebus, 32 pages!
the carbon you’ll keep out of the atmosphere might just help to keep our planet’s ecosphere viable.
Imagine going to the world’s largest landfill and picking up a single pellet of Styrofoam. If you, all your family, and all your friends went off the grid and used zero oil or electricity, that’s about the impact you’d have.
Individual action means jack shit when corporations are OVERWHELMINGLY responsible. Oh you got your entire city to start walking more? That’s great. Too bad a nearby chemical fire just put out more emissions in 2 days than a city full of cars would put out over 2 years. That’s the kind of BS we’re dealing with. Heavy industry regulation is the only solution, and anyone saying otherwise is lying or has their head up their ass.
The Nordics I think figured out a solution to this,
You might be familiar with all the classic arguments decrying rent controls for causing supply shortages as people refuse to give up their RCd housing,
Well up in northern Europe they don’t have rent control, they have rent hike control, basically you can only raise rent by a given percentage at most per year, in the US, we could tie that percentage cap to the percent change change in federal interest rates, pass some of that market rally back to the consumers since a rate drop leads to a mandatory profit margin drop to match.
This exists in a few places in the US under the term “rent stabilization” but it is not tied to interest rates or inflation and exactly who qualifies gets a little murky. Considering that housing is a basic human necessity I think some form of rent stabilization should exist everywhere. Market forces have their place but they are often disadvantageous to lower incomes and should be curtailed when we’re talking something that people can’t do without.
Well see that’s why I tied it to be directly related to the federal interest rate, as a balance to create class interests for both courses of action.
Basically it’d be a way to ensure the fed doesn’t get pressured too much to pursue bad interest rate policy like never raising it over 20 years until it’s too late and everyone’s mad about it.
The Nordics I think figured out a solution to this,
The French did too, it’s called the guillotine.
That actually didn’t help much of anything
Catharsis may feel nice but prioritizing feeling validated over addressing the problems you want to feel so valid about just leaves you feeling valid about a still festering wound.
Can we do both? Murder some of the ultra wealthy and also make systemic improvements?
An environment that allows the indiscriminate murder of an entire class is one that is inherently too lawless to organize systemic improvements to the root causes of institutional problems.
Like I said Catharsis feels nice but helps nothing.
I believe that would be called “redistributing the wealth” given how many stupidly wealthy people claim they couldn’t live on any less.
Oh no, this is such a shock. No shit they were lying about inflation. Those bastards were reporting record highs while the average Joe was struggling to pay rent.
So you’re telling me it doesn’t cost twice as much to make and ship charcoal. It doesn’t cost three times as much to grow a head of lettuce? Those sneaky snooks who make house paint have some 'splaining to do too.
For lettuce, the cost of fertilisers, pesticides, fungicides etc, rose significantly this year. At least in Europe.
You don’t say
No shit.
Not surprised. Black rock company is probably in the lead when it comes to that.
I love how this is filled with people pretending that they knew this without being told by someone who actually looked into it.
Of course corporations are lying to have a reason to raise prices.
The executives at every corpo would throw a million puppies into a wood chipper if it gained them an extra penny.
I just don’t understand why they lie about it at all? To avoid losing long term customers?
Raising the price of goods to increase profits isn’t illegal. It’s just risky for the business if they lose customers to other places with lower prices.
And the damnedest thing is that every corpo does it. So we literally have no choice but to pay higher and higher prices.
The title of this post may as well have been “Water is wet, ice is cold”
Of course corpos are lying to have a reason to raise prices.
Bread and circuses only work when people can afford the bread and circuses. But capitalism demands growth at the cost of all else. The only way out of this mess is when it eats its own tail I imagine. Some say the inevitable collapse of society should be hastened for the greater good. Obviously that’s far too simple a statement, but I’m not well versed on it. Someone hit me with your 2 cents.
