If it is simply pricing power then... why now?
If companies could raise prices 20% all along, why did they wait till now to do so?
Why not in 2019?
If companies could raise prices 20% all along, why did they wait till now to do so?
Why not in 2019?
If I raise my prices but my competitor down the road doesn't, then I probably lose. At the very least consumer watchdogs will be all over me.
The massive media blitz about how we're in a recession and facing hyper inflation is creating the perfect smokescreen. If I raise my prices now, in current climate, ky competitors will likely follow suit. Because we all know we can get away with playing dumb and pretending it's just inflation.
/s
It's all pretty silly.
I can go to the store and buy a TV for half of what it cost me 5 years ago, even with inflation.
Companies push prices down as well as up.
Healthcare, housing, education, food, child care, vehicles, gas, insurance, utilities - all up.
Gas is the same as a decade ago.
Gas is three times more expensive than it was 20 years ago, and even when adjusted for inflation, 60% higher than it was 20 years ago.
What's silly is that the same is true for "a car" if you're as willing to overlook the details as you are with "a TV".
"A house" too! House prices are going down! All you need to do is move from a mansion to a trap house and B-O-O-M you're definitely spending less than half of what you were per month.
Not that shame was a huge pressure in 2019, but it's even less of one now.
Some percentage of people, even here on this very site, will argue with these conclusions, and say it's the pandemic, or wage pressure, or anything but pricing power, and that percentage of people is higher today than it has been in the past.
The pandemic and political environment provides an excuse that wasn't handy in 2019. The political environment provides cover. The naked greed has always been there (the motive), but the means and opportunity are stronger today than before.