71–80 of 402 posts
“asymmetric information warfare” I think that’s a great term in explaining how “the free market” doesn’t work.
What are the legal ramifications grocery stores can realistically get into ? Are there any examples of stores getting in trouble in the past? Did it actually solve anything ? Obviously the stores are not scared of any ramifications.
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>However that doesn’t work because consumers in Austria don’t realise how they are being ripped off Oh, they have known for a long time they were being ripped off but didn't have the proof. There's nothing they can do about it because the corrupt politicians claim it's just the free market and can't intervine with the market pricing otherwise it would be communism, and Austrian consumers who don't live close to Germa…
Is there any evidence that Austrian supermarket owners have long reaped outsize profit margins?
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Now in Poland every promotion needs to display lowest price for the product in last 30 days l, effectively countering this strategy.
Poland has still been hit by inflation, though. I have taken advantage of having a registered business in order to do a lot of my shopping at the wholesaler Makro, where prices still lag well behind ordinary supermarkets.
but it's also absurd to suggest that price controls are a valid means of addressing inflation
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Is there any evidence that Austrian supermarket owners have long reaped outsize profit margins?
There is evidence that the prices they charge in Austria are often significantly higher than in Germany, meaning higher profits per sale, at the expense of the consumer who's wages are lower than those in Germany, so it's a double whammy.
Surely, Austria and Germany, as two different countries, have at least a few big differences in tax systems/labor laws/local laws/etc that can affect cost of goods sold?
Truly shows how Free Markets are the most efficient
If food and housing gets too expensive, then sorry mate, nothing we can do about it, that's just how the free market™ works, try working harder. But when labor gets too expensive pushing wages up, then it's no longer the free market, but it's a "labor shortage" catastrophe all over the media and we have to shed tears about the poor business owners wo can't afford a second Porsche, so immigration gets turbocharged unt…
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That is ridiculous expensive for peanuts.
On the US west coast, I just bought 1,816 grams (4 pounds) of raw peanuts for $8.00. Edit: if the comparison is dry salted peanuts, then Walmart sells Planters brand for ~$3.50 per 500 grams.
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>it shows the power of smart, tech-capable citizens Consumers in Austria who travel abroad/to Germany often, already knew they were getting scammed for a long time now, but couldn't prove it and now they can, so the more important question is what will come out of it, as the data shows the big retailers clearly cooperating on price fixing. My guess, nothing, as the government regulators who are supposed to watch over…
If the retail stores are price fixing then why are their stock prices down so much this year? Their investors are getting savaged. What did they do with all this extra cashflow?
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If food and housing gets too expensive, then sorry mate, nothing we can do about it, that's just how the free market™ works, try working harder. But when labor gets too expensive pushing wages up, then it's no longer the free market, but it's a "labor shortage" catastrophe all over the media and we have to shed tears about the poor business owners wo can't afford a second Porsche, so immigration gets turbocharged unt…
have you ever tried building a house? it's one of the least free markets there is. the quickest way to get arrested is to buy cheap land and start putting up houses willy nilly
The "free market" in the context of housing was meant in a satirical way hence the TM symbol. Of course that market is 100% fixed by design but we get parroted the story where it's 100% "free" as if the government has no control over the levers that wholly impact it's pricing (zoning and building regulations, immigration, interest rates, banking and loan duration regulations, banning overseas investors, banning AirBnBs, property taxes, etc)