The Economy

Reminds me of the old Sandra Day O'Connor joke about taking the Supremes to lunch and the waiter asks, "What about the vegetables?" and she replies, "They'll have the same."

 

I didn’t know Kroger had bought Harris Teeter.

 

My son lives next door to a strip mall in Charlottesville, Virginia. Kroger has kept both the Kroger store and Harris Teeter open in the same mall. I don't know why.

 

JOURNALISM!

 

It was several years ago. To its credit, Kroger pretty much left the Harris-Teeter stores' identity intact. H-Ts are very nice stores. They run a little expensive, but their buy 2, get 3(!) free specials are terrific.

 

15k words incoming …

 

Only one word is needed ... "Balderdash"

 

Which part? Are prices not at a 40-year high? Or are profits not at a 50-year high?

Or correlation not causation?

 

The assertion that the inflation we're experience is the result of "big corporations" (OHNOOO!) gouging. Stuff and nonsense.

 

Seems like Reich is arguing it's in part: "the cover of inflation to increase their prices more than their costs."

Seems like he's saying some of the price increases (due to increased production costs) are justified, some of them are not. You're saying it's not at all possible companies are contributing in part?

 

Not in the way that Reich and his fellow travelers are saying it. Inflation ain't happening because "big corporations [are] using the cover of inflation to increase their prices more than their costs." Now they may be factoring expectations re: inflation in making short- and mid-term plans (re: pricing, etc.), and those expectations can be self-fulfilling (I don't know whether that's happening or not ... not my bailiwick*). But this is not some corporate cabal exploiting market power to impose inflation on the rest of us. And a "windfall profits tax" and "tough antitrust enforcement" (which His Dipshittedness brings up in a subsequent tweet) ain't gonna do a damn thing re: inflation.

*Now that I think of it, I wonder if there's some accounting quirkiness at play in those profit numbers. If you produce from materials in inventory, maybe early in an inflationary environment your profits are juiced by the fact that some of your revenues are booked at current prices but your materials are recorded at older, non-inflated numbers. I wouldn't think that, if it even happens, would last long, but again, not my bailiwick.