Inflation? Americans Are Getting Price-Gouged
Everyone is keenly aware that prices for everything have risen an obnoxious amount. Going to the grocery store is now painful because of the price increases which are double? triple? the cost that we paid just a year ago.
So who is to blame? Take your shots at either administration if you'd like. The gas prices. It must be the global supply chain. Covid!
While all of these are playing their own special role to drive up prices for the goods that we use every day, the real problem is PRICE GOUGING. It's happening every day.
Price gouging is when retailers and others take advantage of changes in demand by charging unreasonable prices for necessary items. This very often occurs during a natural disaster.
Price gouging on its own is not illegal unless preventing it is mandated by an authority. Americans are being price gouged.
Retailers have so many excuses and events to blame that they can currently gouge us without damaging their brand. Said differently, retailers are being greedy and American citizens are getting crushed at the grocery store and others.
"2022 will end up being the best year of our 50 year history," said a manager at a well-established cleaning product company who required anonymity. "Our cost of raw materials has more or less stayed the same. Transport costs are certainly up a bit. But we're able to charge 200% more than we have at any point in our history and consumers are still buying."
Well, it's because we have to. At some point, we as consumers will need to push and require from our leaders that retailers aren't able to price gouge. Where do we even start? If Greedflation is really to blame then there is no easy answer on how to solve it.