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@ILikePie5
Sam Bankman-Fried fund his campaign.
Party of the wealthy elites, lol..... this aint your Grandmomma's DNC.
i decided i no longer approve of biden's job performance
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@Greyparrot
Because there's no substitutes when you have a sanctioned monopoly.
you realize we aren't just talking about Canada right? That was just an example. Inflation shot up around the entire world. That includes the US, Canada, Europe Asia etc. And a large part of that inflation was just corporate greed. Unless you are saying every country in the world has monopolies.
Of course they have to. Businesses have to keep their profit margins to avoid bankruptcy, so prices have to be inflated by at least their profit margins over their cost increases or else the business goes belly-up.
did you even read what I said? Their prices have increased multiple times more than their costs increased. it's not like their costs went up 8% so they raised prices 8%. It's more like their costs went up 8% so they raised prices 40%. That isn't "avoiding bankruptcy". That is runaway corporate greed.
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@ILikePie5
So consumers can go to alternatives and get things for cheaper.
they could, assuming it wasn't a trend everywhere. If all businesses are gouging at the same time, then there is nowhere to go for cheaper alternatives.
. Got it. Also, I don’t think you realize how inflation really works, which is okay. Not everyone is a business or economic major.
lol this is just a sad comment. You made absolutely no argument at all, and yet pretend like you know more than me.
In which case you send the DoJ in, but again. More profits for companies = more donations for Joe.
Do you have any idea how hard the republicans would fight against investigating corporations? Are you really pretending like going easy on corporations is a democrat thing?
Uh, no they don’t. There’s like a million laws that prevent price gouging, but Biden doesn’t want to.
name some, specifically. Name a law that doesn't allow a company to set a price they want to set. Companies have a wide latitude to set whatever price they want. The idea is that competition will force them to lower prices. but when all companies realize they can make more money by raising prices and that they can get away with it, competition stops forcing down prices. And there isn't really a government mechanism to do anything about it.
People like Jeff Bezos and Sam Bankman-Fried fund his campaign.
and those same kinds of people fund all the republicans too. SBF also gave huge amounts of money to republicans, you know that right? These people all fund both sides.
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@HistoryBuff
These people all fund both sides.
Exactly.
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@ILikePie5
If you get a chance, you should research and note which countries hit 8 percent inflation after 2020, and which ones hit around 3 percent. You will find a very interesting correlation. And it has nothing to do with a global corporate conspiracy to inflate prices.
Also very interesting is watching exactly which government politicians the people are democratically replacing in those nations, especially Argentina. It helps to explain the 40% satisfaction with Biden.
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@Greyparrot
These people all fund both sides.Exactly.
so you acknowledge that all republicans are every bit as compromised, usually even more compromised, than Joe Biden? And if so, why were trying to call out joe biden specifically?
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@HistoryBuff
they could, assuming it wasn't a trend everywhere. If all businesses are gouging at the same time, then there is nowhere to go for cheaper alternatives.
Then that’s illegal. Plain and simple.
lol this is just a sad comment. You made absolutely no argument at all, and yet pretend like you know more than me.
I did make an argument. Biden can use the DoJ to stop the price gouging you claim is happening but he doesn’t want to.
Do you have any idea how hard the republicans would fight against investigating corporations? Are you really pretending like going easy on corporations is a democrat thing?
I know that Republicans wouldn’t have let inflation get this bad in the first place. Spending trillions in an inflationary period sure helps increase inflation. Who would’ve thought.
name some, specifically. Name a law that doesn't allow a company to set a price they want to set. Companies have a wide latitude to set whatever price they want. The idea is that competition will force them to lower prices. but when all companies realize they can make more money by raising prices and that they can get away with it, competition stops forcing down prices. And there isn't really a government mechanism to do anything about it.
Yes there is. You don’t have to have a written agreement. There only needs to be inference that they are colluding to raise prices. Sherman Act. Clayton Act. FTC Act. Just to name a few.
and those same kinds of people fund all the republicans too. SBF also gave huge amounts of money to republicans, you know that right? These people all fund both sides.
I never said they don’t. But Biden is the POTUS and in charge of the DoJ, not Republicans. Biden has the power of prosecution, not Republicans.
The age limit for President should be 65. You can't pilot a commercial airplane if you are over 65.
Then that’s illegal. Plain and simple.
you think that companies raising prices is illegal? You don't know how capitolism works do you? It's only illegal if they get together and collude to set a price. If they see their competitor raising prices and say "hey, we can raise prices too". That's not illegal.
I did make an argument. Biden can use the DoJ to stop the price gouging you claim is happening but he doesn’t want to.
how could he do that? It isn't illegal to price gouge. I'm starting to think you don't know how capitalism works.
I know that Republicans wouldn’t have let inflation get this bad in the first place. Spending trillions in an inflationary period sure helps increase inflation. Who would’ve thought.
lol trump spent trillions in an inflationary period. Your partisan blinders are really bad.
Yes there is. You don’t have to have a written agreement. There only needs to be inference that they are colluding to raise prices. Sherman Act. Clayton Act. FTC Act. Just to name a few.
you are contradicting yourself. There must be collusion. IE they have to be working together. If all companies choose to raise prices at the same time and don't communicate about it, that isn't illegal. that's capitolism.
I never said they don’t. But Biden is the POTUS and in charge of the DoJ, not Republicans. Biden has the power of prosecution, not Republicans.
ok, he does right this minute. But trump did a few years ago. Bush did a few years before that. They definitely didn't go after anyone who donated to them. So to pretend you are outraged that Biden isn't doing something when people you support act either the same way or worse, is childish.
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@HistoryBuff
you think that companies raising prices is illegal? You don't know how capitolism works do you? It's only illegal if they get together and collude to set a price. If they see their competitor raising prices and say "hey, we can raise prices too". That's not illegal.
False; it is illegal. Supply and Demand still work. You can get more profit even if a competitor has higher prices than you. But, if you set higher prices to effectively monopolize the market indirectly or directly with a competitor in the market, to negate the supply/demand fundamentals, it is by definition contrary to capitalism and illegal.
how could he do that? It isn't illegal to price gouge. I'm starting to think you don't know how capitalism works.
But you are saying that companies are effectively working together to price gouge to prevent “competition.” Competition is a cornerstone of capitalism. So which is it? There’s no competition or there is? Price gouging is only effective when there is collusion or an inference of conduct similar to that by definition.
lol trump spent trillions in an inflationary period. Your partisan blinders are really bad.
COVID was an inflationary period? I had no clue.
you are contradicting yourself. There must be collusion. IE they have to be working together. If all companies choose to raise prices at the same time and don't communicate about it, that isn't illegal. that's capitolism.
I agree, there must be collusion or an illusion of collusion so to speak. It’s just as illegal because it is contrary to capitalism lmao. You don’t have to sleep with rival companies to effectively monopolize markets.
ok, he does right this minute. But trump did a few years ago. Bush did a few years before that. They definitely didn't go after anyone who donated to them. So to pretend you are outraged that Biden isn't doing something when people you support act either the same way or worse, is childish.
This wasn’t a problem during Trump. Don’t care enough about Bush to know. Under Trump, inflation was stable at around 2-3% until COVID, so the problem never existed.
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@ILikePie5
Under Trump, inflation was stable at around 2-3% until COVID...
To be fair, Trump did set the stage for inflation, Biden just managed to hit it out of the park with his massive corporate giveaway BBB spending stimulus.
False; it is illegal.
no, it isn't. In order for it to be illegal, they have to collude. IE they need to come to an agreement that they will work together to raise prices. If they see the market will support them charging more, there is nothing illegal about raising prices.
But, if you set higher prices to effectively monopolize the market indirectly or directly with a competitor in the market, to negate the supply/demand fundamentals, it is by definition contrary to capitalism and illegal.
this is false. It is only illegal if the competitors are working together. If both companies decide, independently of each other, that they can get away with charging more, there is nothing illegal about that.
But you are saying that companies are effectively working together to price gouge to prevent “competition.” Competition is a cornerstone of capitalism. So which is it?
not exactly, no. Profit is the cornerstone of capitalism. Much of the time, it is more profitable to undercut your rival so you can sell more. But if undercutting your rival only increases your market share by a little, then you can make alot more money if you just raise prices and they do the same thing. With covid, people were expecting inflation. There was a reasonable explanation as to why prices were going up. So companies just kept raising prices far in excess of what they actually needed to.
COVID was an inflationary period? I had no clue.
I'm really not sure if you didn't understand that or not. But yes, Covid, and the policies it triggered, caused the inflation spike. And trump was the one doing that, not biden.
I agree, there must be collusion or an illusion of collusion so to speak. It’s just as illegal because it is contrary to capitalism lmao. You don’t have to sleep with rival companies to effectively monopolize markets.
contrary to capitalism? You defitely don't know what capitalism is if you think it is contrary to capitalism. And you're wrong. It isn't illegal.
This wasn’t a problem during Trump.
are you insane? Trump was being directly paid by billionaires. They used to rent out whole floors of his hotels and then not stay there. The Saudi's were especially large payers of trump. Ivanka got tons of money from China. Trump was, and is, king of crony capitalism.
Under Trump, inflation was stable at around 2-3% until COVID, so the problem never existed.
so your statement is inflation was stable until trump. Then biden inherited his mess....
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@HistoryBuff
no, it isn't. In order for it to be illegal, they have to collude. IE they need to come to an agreement that they will work together to raise prices. If they see the market will support them charging more, there is nothing illegal about raising prices.
If supply and demand justifies the higher price, then by definition there’s no price gouging.
this is false. It is only illegal if the competitors are working together. If both companies decide, independently of each other, that they can get away with charging more, there is nothing illegal about that.
You clearly did not read the FTC article I sent.
not exactly, no. Profit is the cornerstone of capitalism. Much of the time, it is more profitable to undercut your rival so you can sell more. But if undercutting your rival only increases your market share by a little, then you can make alot more money if you just raise prices and they do the same thing. With covid, people were expecting inflation. There was a reasonable explanation as to why prices were going up. So companies just kept raising prices far in excess of what they actually needed to.
Again, if supply and demand equilibrium price is not the price all of these companies are charging, by definition, it’s collusion and illegal. Supply and Demand states that it is illogical to have prices above the equilibrium price. If you believe that companies are maintaining a high price level compared to the equilibrium price, then it is illegal.
I'm really not sure if you didn't understand that or not. But yes, Covid, and the policies it triggered, caused the inflation spike. And trump was the one doing that, not biden.
COVID was a recessionary period. To combat recessions, fiscal policy states that to combat it, spending needs to go up. Biden passed a third stimulus bill that wasn’t needed in 2021. Biden passed the trillions in the “Inflation Reduction Act.” All of this is unnecessary spending.
contrary to capitalism? You defitely don't know what capitalism is if you think it is contrary to capitalism. And you're wrong. It isn't illegal.
Literally laws ban this. Otherwise monopolies would be legal. I provided you sources and laws. You have yet to counter any.
are you insane? Trump was being directly paid by billionaires. They used to rent out whole floors of his hotels and then not stay there. The Saudi's were especially large payers of trump. Ivanka got tons of money from China. Trump was, and is, king of crony capitalism.
You’re changing the topic. Inflation wasn’t a problem during Trump. That’s a fact.
so your statement is inflation was stable until trump. Then biden inherited his mess....
Inflation was stable during the Trump presidency. That’s literally a fact.
Under Biden is when inflation skyrocketed — primarily due to the third stimulus bill that wasn’t needed, and other insane spending Democrats did with their trifecta.
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@HistoryBuff
What's kind of funny is that before inflation, Democrats and the media regularly trashed Trump for not spending enough. Some of the plans proposed by a Democrat Congress would have near doubled what Trump spent. That would have been hilarious to live through. Careful what you wish for.
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@Greyparrot
To be fair, Trump did set the stage for inflation, Biden just managed to hit it out of the park with his massive corporate giveaway BBB spending stimulus.
There’s an argument to be had with if we needed a second round of stimulus. But there’s no debate that we didn’t need a third round and neither did he need the IRA. By Spring 2021, COVID was virtually over.
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@ILikePie5
If Biden was president in 2020, I can only imagine the magnanimous bill the Congress would have asked him to sign.
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@Greyparrot
What's kind of funny is that before inflation, Democrats and the media regularly trashed Trump for not spending enough. Some of the plans proposed by a Democrat Congress would have doubled what Trump spent. That would have been hilarious to live through. Careful what you wish for.
What’s also funny is that the GOP wants to cut spending to reduce inflation (as fiscal policy dictates). Guess who is blocking them: the Dems and Joe Biden
If supply and demand justifies the higher price, then by definition there’s no price gouging.
do you understand what price gouging means. If I raise my prices by 400% and people are still buying my products, that is both price gauging, and capitalism working as intended.
You clearly did not read the FTC article I sent.
I don't think you did. It says there has to be collusion. Two companies raising prices because they can isn't illegal. Even if those raises are price gouging.
Again, if supply and demand equilibrium price is not the price all of these companies are charging, by definition, it’s collusion and illegal.
this is going around in circles. If they all raise prices independently of each other, it isn't illegal. There has to be collusion in order for it be a crime.
Literally laws ban this. Otherwise monopolies would be legal. I provided you sources and laws. You have yet to counter any.
you aren't making any sense. You link to sources that say it requires collusion, then argue the opposite. Link the exact quote that says that companies raising prices independently of each other is illegal.
You’re changing the topic. Inflation wasn’t a problem during Trump. That’s a fact.
lol, if I light a fire right before selling a house, does that mean fire wasn't an issue when I owned it? Trump set the economy on fire, then lost the election. If he had won, inflation would have been the same. Just because the inflation didn't jump to 10% the moment trump make decisions, doesn't mean his decisions didn't cause it.
Under Biden is when inflation skyrocketed
this sort of logic is endemic for republicans. Republican candidates push shitty policy that causes problems. The problems take a few years to become really bad, but by that point they have lost the election. Democrats spend years dealing with the mess they made and fixing it. But repubican voters go "Look, it was only a problem under the democrats" and completely ignore the fact that republican policy caused the problem in the 1st place. But then the cycle begins again.
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@Greyparrot
What's kind of funny is that before inflation, Democrats and the media regularly trashed Trump for not spending enough. Some of the plans proposed by a Democrat Congress would have near doubled what Trump spent. That would have been hilarious to live through. Careful what you wish for.
I'm not arguing that trump's spending was a bad thing. In this specific area he had a series of bad choices. If he didn't spend, the economy was going to stall and caused a huge recession. If he spends too much, the economy gets too hot and you get inflation. There was no good choice. But since republicans like to pretend like it was somehow Biden that caused the inflation and not trump, I feel it is necessary to point that this is not the case.
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@HistoryBuff
But since republicans like to pretend like it was somehow Biden that caused the inflation and not trump, I feel it is necessary to point that this is not the case.
Do you think Biden was right to order a 3rd round of stimulus?
These three main components explain the rise in inflation since 2020: volatility of energy prices, backlogs of work orders for goods and service caused by supply chain issues due to COVID-19, and price changes in the auto-related industries.
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@FLRW
Do you think Biden was right to order a 3rd round of stimulus?
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@Greyparrot
Do you think Biden was right to order a 3rd round of stimulus?
it's hard to say. Daily new cases were still rising. active cases were at all time highs (up to that point). It's entirely possible that without more stimulus there could have been significant negative impacts. I'd say the choice was similar to trump's. There was no "good" choice. All he could do was choose between bad options. Not giving stimulus would have hurt alot of people.
And, to be clear, the majority of the inflation increase had nothing to do with Biden's choice. The majority of the increase was a either covid caused (Ex there were huge holdups at customs and in shipping causing shortages) or corporate greed (ex their cost to produce went up 10% so they raised prices by 40%). The stimulus certainly had an impact on inflation, but it was not the main cause of it.
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@Greyparrot
do you understand what price gouging means. If I raise my prices by 400% and people are still buying my products, that is both price gauging, and capitalism working as intended.
It’s illegal though is my point. There is no such thing as unregulated capitalism in the United States.
I don't think you did. It says there has to be collusion. Two companies raising prices because they can isn't illegal. Even if those raises are price gouging.
“Price fixing is an agreement (written, verbal, or inferred from conduct)”
this is going around in circles. If they all raise prices independently of each other, it isn't illegal. There has to be collusion in order for it be a crime.
Collusion can be inferred.
you aren't making any sense. You link to sources that say it requires collusion, then argue the opposite. Link the exact quote that says that companies raising prices independently of each other is illegal.
Independently raise prices to the same level of their competitors? That’s literally price-fixing by conduct.
lol, if I light a fire right before selling a house, does that mean fire wasn't an issue when I owned it? Trump set the economy on fire, then lost the election. If he had won, inflation would have been the same. Just because the inflation didn't jump to 10% the moment trump make decisions, doesn't mean his decisions didn't cause it.
So you’re saying the stimulus packages were not needed? The first one definitely was. Second one is debatable. But even in that scenario, the third was definitely not needed (which was done by Biden).
Keep in mind that the first two were overwhelmingly bipartisan. Feel free to blame Trump for the second one, but you can blame Democrats as well.
this sort of logic is endemic for republicans. Republican candidates push shitty policy that causes problems. The problems take a few years to become really bad, but by that point they have lost the election. Democrats spend years dealing with the mess they made and fixing it. But repubican voters go "Look, it was only a problem under the democrats" and completely ignore the fact that republican policy caused the problem in the 1st place. But then the cycle begins again.
What “shitty policy” of Trump caused inflation. Simple question.
Republicans have been hammering the Biden administration over inflation. Democrats have tried to respond by blaming supply-chain shortages caused by the pandemic. But Republican senator Tom cotton has a completely different theory: He blames inflation on Donald Trump’s poor selection to lead the Federal Reserve.
Cotton’s view, laid out in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, places the blame for inflation squarely on Jerome Powell, the Fed’s chairman. “Mr. Powell’s Fed has forced millions of American families to choose whether to pay the mortgage, feed their families, fill up their gas tanks, heat their homes or buy Christmas presents,” he argues.
Cotton’s view, laid out in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, places the blame for inflation squarely on Jerome Powell, the Fed’s chairman. “Mr. Powell’s Fed has forced millions of American families to choose whether to pay the mortgage, feed their families, fill up their gas tanks, heat their homes or buy Christmas presents,” he argues.
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@ILikePie5
“Price fixing is an agreement (written, verbal, or inferred from conduct)”
we're going in circles with you just repeating the same misunderstanding over and over. "inferred from conduct" does not mean both companies decided to price gouge at the same time. It still requires collusion, you just don't necessarily need to find written evidence to show collusion. for example if 2 companies raised the prices of their product to exactly the same price on the same day, that would show collusion from conduct. IE they arranged in advance to do this and their actions prove this, even if you can't find a letter showing they colluded. But if two companies raise prices a month apart and they aren't the same price, that wouldn't show collusion. It would be perfectly legal, and a normal part of capitolism.
So you’re saying the stimulus packages were not needed?
no. i'm saying you are blaming biden for the consequence of trump's actions. which is pure partisan hackery.
What “shitty policy” of Trump caused inflation. Simple question.
in this statement I was referring to republicans shitty policy more broadly, not specifically in relation to inflation. Things like cutting taxes on the rich, selling off government assets to rich friends, cutting regulations that prevent corporations from causing problems etc.
The inflation that happened under biden was partially a result of covid (supply chain issues etc), partially a result of covid policy (lockdowns causing everyone to value the same products at the same time, stimulus spending etc), and largely corporate greed (corporations jacking up prices far in excess of their costs increasing). I'm not saying it was shitty policy on trump's part that caused this.
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@ILikePie5
Under Biden is when inflation skyrocketed — primarily due to the third stimulus bill that wasn’t needed, and other insane spending Democrats did with their trifecta.
Do you not realize that inflation was a global problem, or are you really suggesting that Biden's spending in the US caused it globally?
But setting that aside, I find it quite amusing how we passed 3 rounds of stimulus, 2 under Trump and 1 under Biden, and yet you've managed to convince yourself that the one under Biden is what caused the inflation while the 2 under Trump had nothing to do with it.
It says there has to be collusion. Two companies raising prices because they can isn't illegal. Even if those raises are price gouging.“Price fixing is an agreement (written, verbal, or inferred from conduct)”
So if a political candidate's campaign chairman gave polling data to a foreign government operative while that foreign government was actively working to get that candidate elected, would you consider that this conduct infers collusion?
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@Double_R
Do you not realize that inflation was a global problem,
It wasn't. Would you like the list of countries that did not experience 8 percent inflation?
...1 under Biden, and yet you've managed to convince yourself that the one under Biden is what caused the inflation
I think he was saying it was unnecessary, and exacerbated and prolonged the inflation.
I am sure you will have to agree with that.
It wasn't. Would you like the list of countries that did not experience 8 percent inflation?
Bullshit. As Trump has shown us, when you’re in a recession prices remain low. Because of low demand.
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@ILikePie5
Please tell us how BBB caused the price of eggs to go up.
Here’s the reality, which Republicans have no interest in.
“There's an egg shortage because the ongoing bird flu outbreak has killed millions of egg-laying chickens. As of November 2023, more than 61 million birds have died in the U.S. due to the outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Nov 15, 2023”