Been saying it for a while. This inflation is bs. It's corporate manipulation aimed at recovering profits after 2 years of COVID shutdown. If this hold true, the information will show up in quarterly and annual reportings, in which case we can expect a stock market bull period in the coming months. Right?
Derp derp derp evil corporations derp derp. Yes all the corporations in the world are colluding to raise prices on consumer. Just now. This has nothing to do with the government raising the money supply at a 25%+ annual rate over the last few years. Derp derps gonna derp.
Sometimes it does feel like certain things are prohibitively more expensive than they used to be just out of greed. My wife and I went out to lunch the other day at a restaurant that's built right into the side of a local mall. And it's one of those places that serves a little bit of everything. When I saw the prices I was like WTF is going on? Examples: Bacon Cheeseburger - $23 Crab Cake Appetizer - $25 9oz sirloin - $36 BBQ Ribs - $39 Sea Bass - $50 8oz Filet - $55 And even a side order of fries was $8. I mean, the whole experience felt like the biggest ripoff ever.
On the beef side, live cow futures prices are settling at highest levels since 2015. And the farmers are STILL losing money per head because of the cost of weight gain! So I suppose that is justified.
Corporations are maximizing profit (i.e., practicing Capitalism). No collusion needed. What the man in that video is saying makes a lot of sense relative to other periods of inflation. Do you have any evidence to suggest that what he is saying is not true? Or is name-calling all you have because you have no coherent argument?
I've come to see that as a sign of a place that's desperately grabbing for the life preserver before sinking to the bottom. Sure, everything is more expensive - but by the same token, people have that much less money to spend, so they just priced themselves way outside of what someone would pay for a lunch. People who can casually spend $100-$200 for lunch are few and far between - and not very likely to visit places that were charging 1/2 that price a few months ago. Greed? Panic? Cost of business going up like crazy due to a sharply-changed environment and slow adaptation? Who knows. I just generally find "greed" to have extremely low to non-existent explanatory power, and to rarely be a meaningful factor in anything.
If this inflation is bogus then, wait for the real inflation which is coming. You think this is bad now? It gets worst. Europe is on the brink of recession, by January 2023, they should be in recession, US comes next by February 2023. Europe is the US largest trading partner in Europe. Let that sink in. And the oil manipulation by Joe Biden to keep oil prices lower by releasing millions upon millions of oil from the US strategic oil reserves is about done. Our US strategic oil reserves will be all gone soon enough. Add OPEC cutting 2,000,000 barrels of oil a day in its production should spike oil prices higher. Inflation is sky high now but, it is going even higher.
It's led me to find a number of alternatives for where to go shopping and dining. When I DO go to one of my own favorites, rather than spend more, I simply eat less. As for greed, this might be true. But, the fact of the matter is, a number of my old favorites have gone out of business, which is hardly a sign that establishments are generally making money hands over fist. (P.S., I won't pay $12 bucks for ANY kind of burger, let alone $23...yikes!)