Price gouging: Shortages real or are some fabricated?

[the truth]

on and on it goes food cost going up another $1,000 https://www.castanet.net/news/Business/ ... t-predicts safe bet stolen food will be a real thing in 2023
yet we see this https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/can ... -1.6629854

more bs from loblaws https://www.castanet.net/news/Business/ ... -inflation

[Nugget44]

they claim they are NOT gouging....
https://www.castanet.net/news/Business/ ... ion#400008

yet a 30% profit increase..
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/loblaw ... -1.6653223

[hobbyguy]

You know , I know it and the entire world knows these increases were well underway BEFORE Putin went anywhere near Ukraine

Nonsense. What matters to everyday folks is gasoline prices. https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_gas_price

Biden was predicting that Putin the putrid would invade Ukraine in January. Putin the putrid invaded Ukraine in late February and gasoline prices immediately started to spike.

Oil itself: https://markets.businessinsider.com/com ... e?type=wti

Yup, exactly the same pattern. Except it started upward on speculation resulting from Biden's January comments.

Putin the putrid + profiteering by the shameless greedmongers of big oil.

[Ken7]

safe bet stolen food will be a real thing in 2023

It's a real thing now and has been for awhile.

Where you buying your steaks, let me know!

[George Orwell 1984]

You know , I know it and the entire world knows these increases were well underway BEFORE Putin went anywhere near Ukraine

Nonsense. What matters to everyday folks is gasoline prices. https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_gas_price

Biden was predicting that Putin the putrid would invade Ukraine in January. Putin the putrid invaded Ukraine in late February and gasoline prices immediately started to spike.

Oil itself: https://markets.businessinsider.com/com ... e?type=wti

Yup, exactly the same pattern. Except it started upward on speculation resulting from Biden's January comments.

Putin the putrid + profiteering by the shameless greedmongers of big oil.

Nonsense , the 1065 $ grocery increase by price gouging by companies like Loblaws with their record profits just doesn’t matter ? Couple that with justins never ending carbon tax increases for his wet dream of saving the universe , ya sure look over there PUTIN .

[Bsuds]

Where you buying your steaks, let me know!

The store with the meat department closest to the exit...

[Bsuds]

Being discussed here already.

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=91432&p=3121797&hi ... s#p3121797

[seewood]

Nonsense , the 1065 $ grocery increase by price gouging by companies like Loblaws with their record profits just doesn’t matter ? Couple that with justins never ending carbon tax increases for his wet dream of saving the universe , ya sure look over there PUTIN .

Two very brief clips I have heard on the radio was Loblaws, and other food companies have increased their own brand content in the store where margins are higher. Does that account for the increased profits? Somewhat I suspect but all of it??

The other was a spokesman from the parent company of Soby's where he mentioned his cost of the carbon tax is now in the price of food.

[lesliepaul]

Did my usual Monday Costco run today and went up and down EVERY aisle to have a look at prices. One item I bought was a 9-pack box of spaghetti, last week regular price $9.99, today $13.49. How the does this go up over 30% overnight?

Bottom line, I have to figure out where I can make cuts to cover the ever increasing increase in food prices. Have been very good at sniffing out plenty of sales on items we go through but I find that the BEST way to balance it out is to NOT EAT-IN AT ANY LOCAL RESTAURANT..........saves me the sticker shock of their menus, smaller portions at many places and the NUMBER ONE SAVINGS.............NO ING TIPS! Take-out still happens but not anywhere close to the way it used to be. This attitude puts me ahead of the game financially and with ZERO sympathy for the greed infested out there.

Shortages real?.........yes, on certain products at certain times...........fabricated
shortages?..........ABSOLUTELY!.........because they can and will!

[seewood]

Have been very good at sniffing out plenty of sales on items we go through but I find that the BEST way to balance it out is to NOT EAT-IN AT ANY LOCAL RESTAURANT..........saves me the sticker shock of their menus, smaller portions at many places and the NUMBER ONE SAVINGS.............NO ING TIPS!

Maybe a pub visit for dins once a month now. One drink each. I know prices have gone up, but a pub dinner and drinks plus tips is upwards of $80-$100 for the two of us. WE can have plenty dinners at home for that.

However, I suspect the pub owner(s) have to charge what they do to cover their increased food, wage, overhead, booze, the list goes on, costs.

I did a bit of grocery shopping this afternoon. Stuck to the list.

[the truth]

on and on it goes food cost going up another $1,000 https://www.castanet.net/news/Business/ ... t-predicts safe bet stolen food will be a real thing in 2023
yet we see this https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/can ... -1.6629854

never saw that coming-not- https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#402092

[rustled]

on and on it goes food cost going up another $1,000 https://www.castanet.net/news/Business/ ... t-predicts safe bet stolen food will be a real thing in 2023
yet we see this https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/can ... -1.6629854

never saw that coming-not- https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#402092

What a lot of excuse-making. "Gee, we told our employees not to try to stop people from stealing food, and now theft is driving up the cost of your groceries."

The erosion of societal expectations - i.e. theft will be prosecuted - has consequences. Who knew? [/sarcasm]

Then there's this:
https://www.castanet.net/news/Canada/40 ... ng-prices-
Oh, how tenderly and delicately they acknowledged the Trudeau Liberals' responsibility for their part in the worst inflation in 40 years! How cleverly they avoided mentioning silly spending and crippling taxation "to save the world" prior to the pandemic and post-pandemic! And how quickly and generously they helped the Trudeau Liberals avoid taking any real responsibility!

[Catsumi]

From the above link

. Tombe said that while it is important to learn from Canada's recent experience with inflation, there are many important policy issues that will require thinking ahead instead of backward.

"It's disappointing for me to see most of the political conversation trying to place blame."

It’s interesting that through magical thinking towards the future, we will come to ‘conclusions’ that must require dodging the obvious ….overspending by our thoughtless PM.

The Niberals throw every other excuse at us for inflation, especially if they can point overseas, but never acknowledge JTs part in it.

Our horrendous crippling debt burden placed on the young is abominable, but the politicians responsible will still be cushy.

[hobbyguy]

From the above link

. Tombe said that while it is important to learn from Canada's recent experience with inflation, there are many important policy issues that will require thinking ahead instead of backward.

"It's disappointing for me to see most of the political conversation trying to place blame."

It’s interesting that through magical thinking towards the future, we will come to ‘conclusions’ that must require dodging the obvious ….overspending by our thoughtless PM.

The Niberals throw every other excuse at us for inflation, especially if they can point overseas, but never acknowledge JTs part in it.

Our horrendous crippling debt burden placed on the young is abominable, but the politicians responsible will still be cushy.

The topic of inflation will, obviously, be subject to political spin from all directions. The cost of living and inflation are currently the number one top of mind issue with voters. In a recent Alberta poll, 72% had inflation/cost of living as a top issue, followed by health care at 56%. Other issues were way down the list in importance. Things like stopping future mask mandates (8%) and protecting gun rights (6%) have fallen away to mere distractions at this time. https://abacusdata.ca/alberta-politics- ... mber-2022/

If we strip away the political spin, there are shifting macroeconomic factors that will mostly mean that inflation, albeit at a somewhat lower level, will be with us for a long period of time. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/busines ... inflation/

This article points out the key factors that both drove down inflation, and are now driving inflation upwards.

1. Demographics. The "baby boom" of 1947-1964 combined with women entering the workforce created a surplus of workers. With those "boomers" rapidly aging out of the workforce, there is no longer a surplus of workers. So we move from a period, which really hard about 1980, where wage increases were depressed/suppressed to a period of "worker power". Already we are seeing unions negotiations resulting in higher wage increases, and more mobility up the wage/opportunity ladder for non union workers.
2. Globalization. Especially after 1990, resulted in the labor costs for manufactured goods plummeting. Corporations could easily offshore their manufacturing and aided by a shipping technology revolution (containers etc.) the price of manufactured goods plummeted, access to food products out of season and at low costs soared, and Canadian/US work forces were in surplus position. Lower prices from globalization solved inflation, but depressed wage increases. Now we are in a period of de-globalization, "onshoring" and supply chain reset to "friendly" countries. It costs more to make stuff in Canada than it costs to make it in "low wage country X".
3. World poverty reduction. Globalization has lifted a lot of people out of poverty. 100's of millions in China alone. Poverty is still a problem, but the large cohort that have been lifted out of poverty means that we ordinary folks have more competition for goods/commodities. E.g. China's beef imports have soared to all time record highs. More purchaser competition equals higher prices.

The pandemic and Putin's insane war have accelerated these macro forces. Thus the spike in inflation. Will that settle down? Yes. Will it get back to 2%? Probably not. The major adjustments in OECD economies are being driven by macro forces and periods of adjustment have major trends that go with them.

I have always been very critical of Milton Friedman and the narrow and shallow thinking behind his theories. Expecting monetary policy to be effective given those macroeconomic forces at play is a fool's errand. Nonsense like “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” are patently false when placed in the context of the macroeconomics we are facing.

Monetary policy has proven to be very effective at modulating, or not modulating, asset prices. Most of us ordinary folks know this. Low interest rates = higher housing prices. Low interest rates = higher stock market prices. And vice versa. So we can expect that we will see housing prices modulate. That will help a component of the inflation we are experiencing.

At best, the higher interest rates will "solve" about 1/3 to 1/2 of the inflation rate issue. In essence, the higher rates/lower money supply will tame asset inflation - but not the effects of the other major macro forces.

So the conclusion I reach is that we in for an extended period of inflation, probably in the 4-5% range and no amount of monetary policy tinkering is going to change that. That may seem gloomy, but in every scenario there are winners/break evens/losers, and sometimes it is less than obvious who will be where on that scale.

Workers, with a little patience, can be winners.

Example: Once the interest rate scenario settles down, albeit at a higher rate, upward pressures on wages and more job stability will chew away at the mortgage cost issue. In the 1970-1995 period I experienced this. Over time, the mortgage cost problem became less and less of a problem as my wages went up reliably in the 4-6% range. If mortgage costs are say, 40% of your income and your income rises 5%, then the effect of the wage increase on the mortgage cost problem at the same interest rate is 12.5%. Stated another way, the mortgage cost drops from 40% of your income to 38.1% of your income. So if you get say, 7 years of 4-6% wage increases, then the mortgage costs drop to 28-29% of your income.

That's not say the adjustments will be easy. But if we see inflation settle in at around 4% workers will be ok in the longer run.

[Catsumi]

HG said:

The topic of inflation will, obviously, be subject to political spin from all directions. The cost of living and inflation are currently the number one top of mind issue with voters. In a recent Alberta poll, 72% had inflation/cost of living as a top issue, followed by health care at 56%. Other issues were way down the list in importance. Things like stopping future mask mandates (8%) and protecting gun rights (6%) have fallen away to mere distractions at this time. https://abacusdata.ca/alberta-politics- ... mber-2022/

I can hardly believe this is hot- off-the - press straight from Niberal headquarters!

Wasn’t it just yesterday that the number one concern, as sold to us by the govt, that the number one concern all across Canada was climate change and therefore it was only fitting that they spend billions on fighting Mother Earth? No one in Nib camp gave a damn about adding to the national debt, just spend, spend and spend some more.

From your list it looks like that fiasco has worn out its welcome as Cdns now desperately trying to make ends meet.

As I said in my previous post, it is not the Niberal way to look for blame in their own ranks.