That's simply bullshit. Look at what's happening in autos right now. Because there's been a shortage of new cars due to the global shortage in computer chips, the dealers have been charging way above the MSRP:JoeMemphis wrote: ↑Fri Mar 11, 2022 7:34 am I don’t recall ever being is a meeting where supply and demand was discussed when it came to pricing. We always looked at profit margins. If our cost went up eventually we had to raise out prices to offset be it labor, direct materials, overhead, etc. when you go to the investment community, they don’t look at supply and demand curves. The bank doesn’t look at supply and demand curves.
OF COURSE prices are set by supply and demand. That's why Pharma Bro was charging hundreds of dollars for a Epi-Pen that cost $5 to make. That's why drug companies charge exorbitant prices for their drugs while they have patent protection, because you can't get it from anyone else. And that's why the prices go way down when they lose that protection and other companies can provide the same drug.“The fact that an overwhelming majority of consumers are paying above sticker price would have been unthinkable even just a year ago,” said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds’ executive director of insights. “This is, in part, driven by affluent consumers being willing to shell out more cash to get the vehicles that they want, but there’s also a vast population of individuals who are being forced to do so simply because they need transportation.”
On average, a car buyer paid $728 above MSRP in January.
Last year at this time, a car buyer would have gotten a new car at an average discount of $2,152. In January 2020, the average transaction price was $2,648 below sticker.
Both Ford and GM have tried to mitigate the practice of tacking on excessive surcharges for popular and hard-to-get new vehicles.
In early January, Ford warned its dealers not to upsell reservations for the popular Ford Lightning F-150 EV truck. Some were charging more than $10,000 surcharges above sticker. The automaker also wanted customers to sign a contract preventing them from reselling it within a year.
So let's be clear: you are going to try to tell us that when gas reaches seven bucks a gallon, that's because the cost of production by our domestic oil companies have risen that much, right?
No. The increase in the minimum wage has never caused inflation. For one thing, that's because for things like fast food, which relies on minimum wage workers, the food companies compete heavily on price.When fuel costs go up, we generally see a general increase in prices. When labor rates go up, we generally see an increase in prices. It isn’t because supply and demand were affected. Ask Glenn about fuel surcharges.
And you can go into a unionized grocery store, with higher labor costs, and you'll find their prices are basically the same as non-union stores. And actually, I pay more if I go to the local non-union Publix than I do when I go to the local unionized Kroger.