Why are prices skyrocketing? At first, especially last year, prices went up due to supply and demand. Now, even products and services that went largely unaffected by Covid inspired shortages have seen dramatic price increases.
What’s going on? Oh, that’s just corporate being corporate. They can charge whatever they want and blame it on Covid, and they will because they see a bigger threat to their profit margins on the horizon.
That threat is the living wage. The past few years have seen city after city, state after state fully embrace, and or otherwise, move toward a living wage. More importantly, they have successfully passed legislation making it law.
Corporations are currently building up a Covid Cushin. They are doing this by way of price increases beyond what the market demands, which they blame on Covid.
They are actively increasing prices now as they know they will be roasted via public opinion if they wait to dramatically increase prices after more states, or God forbid, the Federal Government actually gets off the bench, into the game, and requires that Americans be paid a living wage.
What’s the harm? They are just ahead of the curve. We will see increases now and not later, right?
Wrong! We are seeing excessive increases now, and those increases will continue for as long as merchandise is still flying off the shelves, for as long as services are still being paid for, the price for that merchandise and those services will increase. After all, Americans will be getting a raise, sometime down the road.
And when that raise comes? There will be more price increases. And in between, every real or imagined threat, and natural disaster, including climate change, or war, or peace, really, both war and peace see their own somewhat unique price increases. Marketing has a scenario for everything.
Along with those increases in prices, those additional costs paid for by everyday Americans, we will see those corporations increasing their profit margins, again, and again, because corporate is going to corporate