So Doctorow has some words about egg prices [View all]

[intrepidity]

As if we needed even more sources for outrage.

https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/10/demand-and-supply/#keep-cal-maine-and-carry-on

Egg prices are at record highs, and we're told that this is the fault of bird flu. but a closer look demonstrates that eggflation is excuseflation. The egg industry is a vertical stack of monopolies, duopolies, and cartels, controlling everything from the genomes of egg-laying chickens to the raising and processing of chickens, to the distribution and retailing of eggs. These monopolists have conspired in the open to use the excuse of bird flu to restrict production and raise prices, over and over, every time bird flu strikes, posting record profits while poormouthing about their rising costs – costs that don't actually show up on their balance sheets.

In "Hatching a Conspiracy," an investigative series for Matt Stoller's BIG newsletter, antitrust lawyer Basel Musharbash lays out the history, mechanics, and fantastical profits of Big Egg, whose price-fixing and price-gouging are every bit as shameless as their excusemaking over bird flu:

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/hatching-a-conspiracy-a-big-investigation

Here's the take-home message, although the whole piece is worth reading if you have any doubts whatsoever:

Since the start of the bird flu epidemic, Cal-Maine's profits have averaged between 300% and 600% of their pre-bird flu levels.

Extreme profits mean only one thing.