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[-] sanguine_artichoke@midwest.social 207 points 2 years ago

Yep, a huge portion of this recent 'inflation' is not cost increases or actual inflation... just basically the wealthy class turning the screws on everyone else because they can.

[-] EmergMemeHologram@startrek.website 104 points 2 years ago

Don’t worry, my Econ 101 class states that surely a competitor will come in and operate at a lower cost to recoup that cost for the customers!

Wait… what do you mean the competitors are all increasing prices by the same amount knowing demand for diapers is inelastic and the Nash equilibrium is for them to all match price increases so that they all make more money together?

Surely a new entrant will help!

Wait… what do you mean nobody will invest in a new competitor because the market is “saturated” and even if they did the big brands would just decrease prices in the areas they operate until they run out of cash and fold?

Surely a regulator will help!

Wait… what do you mean the regulators feel price increases are due to “too much demand” for products and are turning the screws on consumers?

[-] stjobe@lemmy.world 32 points 2 years ago

"Actual inflation" is just some capitalist a bit further up the supply chain "turning the screws on everyone just because they can". Inflation is the ultimate proof capitalism is an inherently flawed system.

[-] KevonLooney@lemm.ee 14 points 2 years ago

This is just false. The OP had the correct idea, demand for essential goods is inelastic. This doesn't go away if you "get rid of capitalism". All economies have price increases. If you ban them, you just get shortages and things get sold on the black market (as was the case in the Soviet Union).

The real issue is: what is "essential"? The items we think of as essential are mostly conveniences. Disposable diapers are not essential. Washable diapers existed for thousands of years, and they are way better for the environment. Your kids don't have disposable clothes. You just wash them when they are covered in vomit or feces. So why not diapers?

Maybe we should consider alternatives to "essential" items. Toilet paper is expensive? Get a bidet. Baked goods are expensive? Get some butter and flour. Beer is expensive? Good news: alcohol just appears for free when you give yeast food! Your home repairs are expensive? Literally watch a YouTube video.

It's easier than ever to do things on your own. Don't hand out money unless you want to. And realize the choice you are making.

[-] rainynight65@feddit.de 16 points 2 years ago

Washable diapers are somewhat different from regular clothes. They need to be natural fibre (cotton or similar) that can handle being washed at high temperatures - because you want to make sure those diapers are properly clean. Natural fibre is expensive - there is a reason why most denim pants on the market are stretch now. Washable diapers also harken back to a time when one parent - usually the mother - was at home all day to look after the household and the kids. Water and electricity were cheap back then - nowadays if you're running several loads of washing each week just to clean the diapers, you're quickly transferring that cost.

Your other analogies are similarly flawed. Home repairs are expensive, sure - but watch a Youtube video? Really? For one, some skillsets are not transferrable through a video - these people make it look easy because they know what they're doing. Then, even if I can comprehend what I'm supposed to do, I still may not have the required tools - and boy some of them can be expensive. Thirdly, certain kinds of work are regulated, at least where I live (plumbing, electrical), so DIYing those can get you into very hot water if something goes wrong. Lastly, if I botch a repair or break something else in the process, I'm left holding the bag. A tradesman has the required insurance - at least where I live - and has to warrant their work.

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[-] T00l_shed@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago

Sure in a perfect world we all the time and money to install a bidet, or bake everything you need, or brew beer, most people don't have the time and or money to experiment with this kind of stuff.

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[-] SnotFlickerman 24 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

"But people are still out here buying staples and maxing out their credit cards, so we can turn the screws just a bit more, right? Right?"

-Rich People Probably

[-] Fester@lemm.ee 14 points 2 years ago

“There still aren’t enough homeless people. We can keep going.”

[-] SnotFlickerman 17 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

What's terribly sad about that is we're genuinely reaching crisis levels in some cities. These people need housing *with functioning plumbing stat.

I don't understand people's hesitance to house them because it's like... all you people do is complain about them existing and wanting them "out of your downtown." Well shit, it's my downtown too and their downtown as well and all I want is for them to be housed, and holy shit that actually solves your whole fucking complaint because now they're not in "your" downtown.

The amount of human feces that has to be cleaned daily in some cities is genuinely approaching crisis levels. It's literally a public health emergency. It absolutely can get to the level where enough fecal matter is in a general area that large amounts of bacteria will be floating in the air, and people can end up getting ill from food that this bacteria has landed on. No direct contact with feces needed, once it has reached that level. We don't want it to reach that level.

There's my rant about how absolutely fucked the homeless situation is, because its inhumane and should be classified as "cruel and unusual punishment" in my opinion.

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[-] derf82@lemmy.world 143 points 2 years ago

I think corporations learned some very dangerous lessons from the pandemic.

  1. The demand for essential goods is inelastic. They can charge whatever and people still have to but things, especially food, household products, and a place to live.

  2. They can understaff and underpay employees, and people will choose to fault people for laziness rather than the deliberate corporate choices that lead to the situation.

  3. Corporations have built such a large market share so as to have created giant barriers to entry that there is zero competition from new businesses.

  4. Even larger competitor corporations are happy to wink and nod as you both raise prices, cut staff, and give paltry raises because it just means you both make more money, and so long as you don’t say it out loud, it isn’t collusion.

[-] hark@lemmy.world 54 points 2 years ago

They already knew these things, they just needed an excuse to not cause too much of an uproar. Egg prices went up by way too much too quickly that even the government, who rarely actually does anything about this sort of thing, started an investigation. Magically the prices dropped by a lot, but unfortunately still higher than it used to be.

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[-] HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml 105 points 2 years ago

They literally lock up the baby formula in a cage at my local grocery stores now. You know, so criminal scum with starving babies don't pillage them.

If that doesn't signal imminent collapse I don't know what does.

[-] STRIKINGdebate2@lemmy.world 41 points 2 years ago

That isn't a sign of collapse. That just shows that the average retailer would let a baby starve than lose a dime. Its a reflection of the morality that these people have. But of course they never examine themselves deep enough to have that realisation.

[-] LoamImprovement@ttrpg.network 14 points 2 years ago

The devil's advocate in me says that dealers often cut drugs with formula so there's at least one other reason to keep it locked, but I don't know how well that statement holds up under scrutiny, because it's not like they check to see if you actually have a baby when you buy formula, and it's probably not worth the risk to steal it as opposed to just buying it with the kind of return you'd get from diluting your product.

And yeah, I see razor blades, shampoo, and fucking laundry soap under lock and key in stores all the time. Nobody's cutting drugs with any of those. Shit's getting real fucked up.

[-] Sigh_Bafanada@lemmy.world 16 points 2 years ago

Also I'd much rather have drugs cut with baby formula than cut with fentanyl

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[-] Digital_man@lemmy.one 70 points 2 years ago

Corporations. Do. Not. Care.

[-] piecat@lemmy.world 38 points 2 years ago

Their incentives go directly against our incentives quite often

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[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 62 points 2 years ago

I'm sure all the pro-life politicians who want to save the poor babies will be very concerned about this and congressional investigations will be forthcoming.

Right?

[-] Burninator05@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago

Unless there is a way to pin it on Biden they aren't interested in doing anything.

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[-] SVcross@lemmy.world 58 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Don't worry the market will regulate itself. /s

[-] HawlSera@lemm.ee 58 points 2 years ago

The inflation we are experiencing is artificial

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[-] mycatiskai@lemmy.one 38 points 2 years ago

Someone should have Robert Reich be their vice president. He could come out every second day and rip into some fucking companies for the shit they do to keep dragging the whole world down.

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[-] darthfabulous42069@lemm.ee 36 points 2 years ago

So I propose a solution:

We start and fund a non-profit organization designed to produce basic living essentials and sell it at the cost to manufacture, regardless of market pressures. Then we all collectively buy from this non-profit and have a functional means of production legally owned and controlled by the people.

Set up strict rules to ban anyone who has ever worked in any upper management position in any for-profit basic essentials producing company from ever holding any position of power in the non-profit. No one from the corporate world at all. No one from any position in state or federal government. No lobbyists or consultants or members of their think tanks or any of their goons.

Use open source designs for the factories and everyone in the community works together to automate them as much as is possible.

[-] corship@feddit.de 24 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Sounds an awful lot like communism to me.

I'm in.

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[-] uriel238 33 points 2 years ago

Shareholder primacy is upheld by the state putting every publicly owned company antagonistic to its workers and customers, id est, the public.

This means the companies are forced to charge what the market will bear, and it's the responsibility of the government to regulate prices to keep things affordable.

But this means lobbying by companies is an attack on the public. (It's highly profitable to bribe officials and should be illegal. It also means officials who take lobby money are traitors to the public, the nation and their office, whether or not doing so is legal.

So the justification for bullets is there, and has been for several decades. We're just not very good at seeing when we have nothing left to lose.

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[-] explodicle@local106.com 17 points 2 years ago

Remember this discrepancy every time you hear "they'll just pass the costs on to the consumer" with regards to regulation and taxes. It works the same way in both directions; the price is based on what you're willing to pay, not their operating costs.

[-] quindraco@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago

Huggies are not the only diapers.

[-] tenacious_mucus@sh.itjust.works 16 points 2 years ago

Unfortunately negative reactions to different brands exists, though. So, not everyone gets a choice. Fortunately for us, Huggies is what gave my daughter rashes. So that was an easy out!

[-] ivanafterall@kbin.social 17 points 2 years ago

Yeah, diapers are not like some other products, where the generic is just as good. When my kids were babies, we tried multiple cheap brands and they all leaked. Meaning pee and poop went everywhere outside the diaper. It was a less-than-ideal feature for diapers, so we typically went with LUVS, if I recall correctly.

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this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2023
1929 points (100.0% liked)

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