Hi Vass, good post. What I would like to see at grocery stores is price-per-unit labels that are not written in tiny fonts, are not hidden away on the bottom shelves where they are difficult or impossible to read, and do not use differing units of measurement for different products. That would make it much easier to compare prices. It would also make it easier to shop in crowded stores, since people wouldn't have to block aisles as much while trying to squint at a bunch of tiny labels
Price controls necessitate product shortages, which are always worse. Plus, some increases are legitimate responses to the very real inflationary impulse we just suffered (for that, you must tackle the Fed and shoddy energy policy).
There has definitely been some taking advantage of the loose nature of prices lately, though. Certainly, companies with pricing power like to see how far they can go. That said, the way to go about this not to treat the symptoms.
Look for ways to open up competition. The only reason companies get away with this sort of thing is the lack of competition. This is a complex phenomenon involving many causes, including various corporate welfare schemes, reliance on passive index investing, and monetary policy. But often it involves barriers to entry so immense that it’s cost prohibitive to compete, and a sometimes those barriers are onerous regulatory burdens (often established by the biggest players’ lobbyists). There’s a lot government can do about that.
With competition, a lot of these games our oligopolistic companies play will vanish in real time. Reviving it should be a top priority.
Hi Vass, good post. What I would like to see at grocery stores is price-per-unit labels that are not written in tiny fonts, are not hidden away on the bottom shelves where they are difficult or impossible to read, and do not use differing units of measurement for different products. That would make it much easier to compare prices. It would also make it easier to shop in crowded stores, since people wouldn't have to block aisles as much while trying to squint at a bunch of tiny labels
Price controls necessitate product shortages, which are always worse. Plus, some increases are legitimate responses to the very real inflationary impulse we just suffered (for that, you must tackle the Fed and shoddy energy policy).
There has definitely been some taking advantage of the loose nature of prices lately, though. Certainly, companies with pricing power like to see how far they can go. That said, the way to go about this not to treat the symptoms.
Look for ways to open up competition. The only reason companies get away with this sort of thing is the lack of competition. This is a complex phenomenon involving many causes, including various corporate welfare schemes, reliance on passive index investing, and monetary policy. But often it involves barriers to entry so immense that it’s cost prohibitive to compete, and a sometimes those barriers are onerous regulatory burdens (often established by the biggest players’ lobbyists). There’s a lot government can do about that.
With competition, a lot of these games our oligopolistic companies play will vanish in real time. Reviving it should be a top priority.