Reply to Price gouging as her first policy announcement? Really?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]JBS , meat processing, enjoyed a 70% increase in profits. Ranchers lost money.

Throttling supply to increase decrease demand and rake in insane profit increases on staple food products isn’t capitalism. Ranchers don’t have a wide choice of processing companies.

[/quote]

Wouldn’t that be a monopoly issue? [/quote]

Why yes. Especially because mega mergers in the food industry mean that there are conglomerates 1-3 conglomerates providing many food staples.  Capitalism can’t work if there is no marketplace competition. Because ranchers and farmers on the front end and consumers on the back end have no meaningful choice (I mean, “buy local agriculture” is nice— if you have local agriculture and the time and ability to go to a farmers market.  But many Americans don’t). And those conglomerates raised prices during and after COVID in response to supply chain issues— and never lowered them when supply chain stabilized. And the don’t have to— because no competition. And they are raking in in the profits.

10 companies control the worlds food supply. And three— General Mills, Unilever, and Kellogg control almost all food commodities. And these three don’t offer the same commodores.  In many cases, they aren’t even competing among each other.

https://www.good.is/Business/food-brands-owners-rp

This isn’t telling Food Lion what to charge.  It’s saying we need competition because General Mills had $670+ million in profit For Q3 2024.. Not for the year. For one fiscal quarter.  In part because they have monopolies on some food staples.

https://accountable.us/relying-on-price-hikes-general-mills-rakes-in-millions/#:~:text=As%20General%20Mills%20posts%20massive,many%20American%20families%20food%20insecure.

And unlike many poster here, I don’t think American families should do without food staples to feed their kids because one or two companies control all of the market in these areas and would rather charge more for less.

Harris is not proposing price fixing. She’s proposing using antitrust laws to eliminate monopolies on food staples create more competition (heck— in many cases some competition), because capitalism needs competition. Otherwise, why would a corporation lower prices?

This is not price fixing. Or socialist. In fact, it’s creating a system where there is competition so capitalism can work.

If you are going to yell about how awful the plan is, at least be honest about what it does and how we got here (spoiler alert: Republican administrations are against regulating markets and mergers and mergers of merged companies so that monopolies on food staples happen).

Debate in good faith. And educate yourself beyond Faux News. 
[/quote]

I am educated beyond Faux news, thanks, but I get your point and it’s why I asked. I agree with what you’re saying, theoretically- I just don’t see how Kamala’s proposed price gauging would eliminate a monopoly.

Appreciate the answer though. Agree to disagree. [/quote]

^ gouging [/quote]

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