They did it with COVID, they did it with the Supply Chain Crisis of '22, and now they're doing it with the "Tehran Tensions." Notice how prices go up "anticipating" a conflict, but they never seem to come down once the Surgical Strike is over? They’ve normalized the Permanent Crisis Economy where the consumer is always one Executive Order away from a price hike. Prosecute them? We should be nationalizing the industries that think a war is a Marketing Opportunity.
63
sharp11flat13Mar 25, 2026
+1
American traded with Germany and some corporations converted their German plants to weapons production during WWII before Pearl Harbour.
1
Hayes4prezMar 25, 2026
+18
How about prosecuting the deliberate insider trading being done by this administration?
18
CaymonkiMar 25, 2026
+10
Walmart has installed digital price tags that allow them to adjust prices at a whim. Gas went up before any trucks arrived at stations.
Labor value never goes up. It’s not like when 2 people call out your hourly rate increases to offset the lack of labor. Nope. You gotta do the same work, with less people, or else! Minimum wage doesn’t increase overnight to help staff companies, you don’t get extra.
But yet these companies post RECORD profits year after year while laying people off and crying victim while pushing their companies abroad or relying on immigrants on visas to control.
This capitalism thing sure seems a bit rigged to benefit a few vs the masses.. too bad we can’t change now!
10
amateurbreditorMar 25, 2026
-3
And joe did nothing about it. I mean the party that is supposed to care doesnt. Instead he raised interest rates and fucked over every young person. And yeah yeah I know he didnt personally but he had powell do it. Both parties let corporate america f*** the american people and its so old. Ive been paying attention since bush and neither side cares to fix it. only bernie etc care.
-3
wisemeatMar 25, 2026
>Both parties let corporate america f*** the american people
More people need to understand this.
Edit: formatting
0
amateurbreditorMar 26, 2026
-2
I know. Thats why I keep saying it. There is so much of the how dare you criticize the dems shit it makes me sick. trump would not exist if obama fixed the economy. trump would not exist if biden put his ass in prison. There is no excusing either of them.
-2
StrigiStockBackingMar 25, 2026
+4
This is the distraction they wanted. This is all about keeping the media from talking about the Epstein files. So, get back to work on that instead.
4
odarkshineoMar 25, 2026
+2
That would defeat the point of the Republican collusion.
2
WardenEdgewiseMar 26, 2026
+2
What about those using prior knowledge Trumps illegal Iran war market manipulations to make billions off of insider trading?
2
rvretiredlifeMar 25, 2026
+1
How about trumps friends and cohorts selling stocks based on shit he tells them and that will affect the stock market.
1
Hoodrow-ThrillsonMar 25, 2026
-2
A huge decline to the supply of something is not "cover" for a rise in price.
I'm so sick of economic illiteracy.
-2
diverareyouokayMar 25, 2026
+4
Did you even read the article?
> While the Democrats acknowledged that Trump’s war created “broad supply chain disruptions and widespread uncertainty in the global economy,” they warned that “big corporations may capitalize on this uncertainty to hike prices more than is warranted by actual input cost increases, price gouging everyday Americans while enriching executives and padding investors’ pockets.”
>The lawmakers accused big corporations in recent years of using assorted crises—including the global Covid-19 pandemic, the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Trump’s massive “Liberation Day” tariffs on foreign goods—to justify hiking prices beyond what could be warranted by input increases caused by external shocks.
4
Hoodrow-ThrillsonMar 25, 2026
-7
Even better, I have a degree in economics.
Price gouging does not exist, it's just how people who don't understand supply and demand describe seeing supply and demand play out in real life.
When you take a massive amount of oil out of the global supply but the same number of people (or more even) are buying it, the price goes up. Not by an "unwarranted" amount, not because they have an excuse to do it, but because that's literally how prices work.
-7
diverareyouokayMar 25, 2026
+3
I think you’re missing the point? This isn’t about fuel prices going up, it’s about companies using rising fuel prices as an excuse to bump up prices above and beyond what they would normally have been priced at.
If companies were simply passing on the increased cost of oil, their margins would stay flat. I suppose we’ll have to wait to see, but if what happened during Covid is any indicator, we will see record profits instead. Which indicate that they are increasing prices beyond the inflation rate or input costs in order to capitalize on a crisis… which is not really demand related, it has more to do with prioritizing profits instead.
As far as price gouging not existing, that seems academic - not practical, and really doesn’t do much for inelastic goods. Just because some people can’t afford to pay higher price prices doesn’t mean that everyone can. Which is why there are laws against it.
3
Hoodrow-ThrillsonMar 25, 2026
-4
> it’s about companies using rising fuel prices as an excuse to bump up prices above and beyond what they would normally have been priced at.
And I'm telling you, as someone who knows more about this than a journalist major paid to shit out clickbait for a living, that this doesn't happen.
Companies don't need excuses to raise prices. They always charge the maximum that the market will allow them, but people always ignore that market part.
-4
Smoogy54Mar 25, 2026
+5
Lol get a refund on your degree
5
Marmoset_SlimMar 26, 2026
+5
Exactly this. I had a bunch of links to peer reviewed articles on price gouging I was going to reply with, but then decided to not even bother because it would be like posting articles for a tree to read.
5
Cantras0079Mar 26, 2026
+1
Seriously, like the other person said, get a refund on your degree. Folks reading this, this person is an economics purist that views price gouging as a moral construct and, in actuality, doesn't exist from an economic standpoint. The problem with that assertion is that it ignores reality itself. Excessive pricing can cause economic distress and affect the entire system. "That's just the price" ignores reality in the most douchey and snobby way possible. And I should expect nothing less from someone talking down to people rather than trying to explain their position. Get outta here with your nonsense. It exists and many economists of much higher repute than you acknowledge the dangers because we're not in a f****** sterile simulation.
1
passengerpigeon20Mar 26, 2026
+1
He's right about companies charging "the maximum the market will bear", but that doesn't mean either episode of greedflation (COVID and now) should have still happened in a functioning country; it's a symptom of a lack of competition. If so many industries weren't oligopolies with both tacit collusion and true collusion that goes completely unpunished, nobody would be able to double their prices in response to 10% inflation or not walk back "temporary" fuel cost-driven price increases out of fear that their competitors wouldn't play ball.
20 Comments