alt Hacker NewsSome businesses use that as cover to increase prices even when their costs may not have actually been affected by the price of energy. Never waste an opportunity to put the big squeeze on.
Steadily rising prices will be the norm from now on. What will be interesting to see is how fast the corporate elite figure they can boil the frogs without them noticing too much.
$50.00 hotdog is coming.
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A small number of companies control the meat supply in the United States. If you decide that you don't want to buy that $50 hot dog, you likely won't have many comparable options.
This cannot be emphasized enough. The rise in egg prices was such a thing. Avian flu was an impact, but not to the degree that egg prices increased. Those producers are reporting record profits.
Is this of any significance? I would imagine most people are like me: we shop based on quality and price and where we want something on that curve. Whether someone raises the price on me “because of inflation” or “because we want to make more money” is indistinguishable.
A rationale for the price rarely affects my choice. If I don’t want to buy something for a price, explaining that the guy won’t be able to survive without pricing it that high won’t get me to buy it. If I do want to buy something for a price, explaining that a guy is charging a hefty profit won’t get me to not buy it.
The only thing that will get me to buy it or not buy it is if it is at the point on the price/quality frontier where I want it.