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Showing Original Post only (View all)Consumers are increasingly pushing back against price increases -- and winning [View all]
https://apnews.com/article/inflation-consumers-price-gouging-spending-economy-999e81e2f869a0151e2ee6bbb63370afConsumers are increasingly pushing back against price increases and winning
By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
Updated 6:30 AM CST, February 25, 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) Inflation has changed the way many Americans shop. Now, those changes in consumer habits are helping bring down inflation.
Fed up with prices that remain about 19%, on average, above where they were before the pandemic, consumers are fighting back. In grocery stores, theyre shifting away from name brands to store-brand items, switching to discount stores or simply buying fewer items like snacks or gourmet foods.
More Americans are buying used cars, too, rather than new, forcing some dealers to provide discounts on new cars again. But the growing consumer pushback to what critics condemn as price-gouging has been most evident with food as well as with consumer goods like paper towels and napkins.
In recent months, consumer resistance has led large food companies to respond by sharply slowing their price increases from the peaks of the past three years. This doesnt mean grocery prices will fall back to their levels of a few years ago, though with some items, including eggs, apples and milk, prices are below their peaks. But the milder increases in food prices should help further cool overall inflation, which is down sharply from a peak of 9.1% in 2022 to 3.1%.
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No, consumers are not winning. They have fallen behind and are powerless against corporate greed in every area: housing, food, transportation, insurance, etc.
Lets demonstrate with one glaring example: diapers.
The hyper-consolidated diaper industry is dominated by just two companies, Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark, which own well-known diaper brands like Pampers, Huggies, and Luvs. The cost of wood pulp, a key ingredient for making diapers absorbent, did spike during the pandemic, increasing by more than 50 percent between 2020 and 2021.
But last year it declined by 25 percent. Did that drop in costs lead Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark to lower their prices? Far from it. Diaper prices have increased to nearly $22 on average.
These corporate giants have no plans to bring prices down anytime soon. In fact, their own executives are openly bragging about how theyre going to expand margins on earnings calls. Procter & Gamble predicted $800 million in windfall profits as input costs decline. Kimberly-Clarks CEO said the company has a lot of opportunity to expand margins over time.
Its not just diapers while many corporations were quick to pass along rising costs, theyve been in no hurry to pass along their savings. A recent survey from the Richmond Fed and Duke University revealed that 60 percent of companies plan to hike prices this year by more than they did before the pandemic, even though their costs have moderated.
The hyper-consolidated diaper industry is dominated by just two companies, Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark, which own well-known diaper brands like Pampers, Huggies, and Luvs. The cost of wood pulp, a key ingredient for making diapers absorbent, did spike during the pandemic, increasing by more than 50 percent between 2020 and 2021.
But last year it declined by 25 percent. Did that drop in costs lead Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark to lower their prices? Far from it. Diaper prices have increased to nearly $22 on average.
These corporate giants have no plans to bring prices down anytime soon. In fact, their own executives are openly bragging about how theyre going to expand margins on earnings calls. Procter & Gamble predicted $800 million in windfall profits as input costs decline. Kimberly-Clarks CEO said the company has a lot of opportunity to expand margins over time.
Its not just diapers while many corporations were quick to pass along rising costs, theyve been in no hurry to pass along their savings. A recent survey from the Richmond Fed and Duke University revealed that 60 percent of companies plan to hike prices this year by more than they did before the pandemic, even though their costs have moderated.
https://inequality.org/research/inflation-price-gouging/
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Consumers are increasingly pushing back against price increases -- and winning [View all]
dalton99a
Feb 2024
OP
Oh, I do most humbly beg your apology for my error. 4/10ths of a percent on, say, 1,000
niyad
Feb 2024
#42
We should worry less about a dollar more on a grocery item. Insurance is what's out of hand!
jimfields33
Feb 2024
#28
A long time ago, a RW relative told me I need to go to Walmart for my prescriptions.
progressoid
Feb 2024
#73
Why is that? I'm in PA and just about to pay over 3,000 bucks to renew our two vehicles, one doesn't even have collision
Dark n Stormy Knight
Feb 2024
#39
+1. Unit price increases across many categories are huge - it is sheer profiteering at this point
dalton99a
Feb 2024
#35
And some here act like everyone got all this extra income in raises, so we are way ahead of inflation
MichMan
Feb 2024
#63
Bummer! So many ways the super wealthy in charge are demanding more and more of our money.
Dark n Stormy Knight
Feb 2024
#41
Definitely not toasted bread! I have to confess, I never quite developed a liking for apple butter,
Dark n Stormy Knight
Feb 2024
#66