Is it really 53% more expensive this year to produce a Twix candy bar than it was last year, even if sugar has been in shorter supply? No.
https://thehill.com/homenews/nexstar_media_wire/3709841-candy-is-more-expensive-this-halloween-especially-these-brands-report/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-21/halloween-candy-inflation-surges-with-twix-and-skittles-seeing-biggest-jumps
No paywall: https://archive.ph/Mon38
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1583859186294661120.html
It's not just happening in the candy aisle (and at the meat counter - yikes) at the grocery store.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/retail-price-gouging-lowes-amazon-target-accountable-us/
Some of the nation's largest retailers have been using soaring inflation rates as an excuse to raise prices and rake in billions of dollars in additional profit, a corporate watchdog group charged on Friday.
Companies such as CVS Health, Kroger and T.J. Maxx parent company TJX appear to have raised their prices unnecessarily in 2020 and 2021 at a time when Americans were dealing with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, Accountable.US said in a new report. Instead of keeping prices stable for struggling families, corporations have overcharged Americans and prioritized profit, the group claims. [snip]
The new figures comes as companies enjoy their most profitable year since the 1950s. Pre-tax profits last year soared 25% from 2020, far outpacing the increase in consumer prices. The report highlights an ongoing debate about the causes of inflation, with some consumer advocates arguing that corporations are using inflation as a justification for passing on even higher price hikes to consumers.
The article brings receipts, and is well worth reading in full.
Corporations know they're gouging and that the government is onto them. They're out in force to prevent any action being taken to stem their greed.
https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-lobbying/3717308-corporations-dominated-lobbying-on-anti-price-gouging-bills-analysis/
Corporations and their industry groups spent big to defeat various bills to crack down on price gouging, according to a report from the Groundwork Collaborative and Public Citizen released Thursday.
Corporate interests deployed lobbyists to oppose bills taking aim at prescription drug costs, bank overdraft fees and sky-high gas prices more than 2,600 times since 2020, outnumbering the bills’ supporters 9-to-1, the progressive groups’ report found.
Opponents of those bills spent $751 million on lobbying over that period, compared to $82 million by supporters. [snip]
While economists initially rejected that idea, noting that prices are primarily driven by supply and demand, more economists are
pointing to huge profits as a factor now that demand for products has slowed and supply chains have somewhat recovered in recent months.
Maybe people are outraged because they have good reason to be.
= new reply since forum marked as read
