On 8 Dec 2023 23:02:19 GMT, Gordon <
Gordon@leaf.net.nz> wrote:
On 2023-12-08, Rich80105 <Rich80105@hotmail.com> wrote:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/07/greedflation-corporate-profiteering-boosted-global-prices-study
"Greedflation: corporate profiteering ?significantly? boosted global
prices, study shows
Multinationals in particular hiked prices far above rise in costs to
deliver an outsize impact on cost of living crisis, report concludes"
Good, they are trying it on to see what the market will bear. That is >capitalism in action. If people stop buying from them them the company will >go bust.
We benefited from this with exports, and suffered with respect to
imports - overall, our rise in inflation was largely driven by rising
import prices.
Certainly we have seen the effect of increases to global prices
affecting our domestic economy, but we have our own examples of such
Greedflation with our banks and supermarkets.
Inflation does this, this is why it is not a good thng.
Agreed, but our banks and supermarkets and electricity suppliers are
able to increase costs and profits due to lack of effective
competition - structural oligopolies. Both Labour and National
governments are guilty of not providing adequate capital to Kiwibank
to enable it to be an effective competitor for banking, and Labour
made a small start on the supermarket anti-competitive behaviour. The electricity companies need major change to change their focus from
maximising profit - they are probably our worst example of poor
privatisation.
It will be interesting to see how NActFirst get on trying to restrict
such greedflation here - especially with an ex-National PM at the head
of one of the largest banks!
Now let us all remember that Labour, I say Labour caused this mess by simply >not gettting off the idealogical horse as they rode into months of spend >spend and spend again. Do not spare the horses either.
For most businesses normal laws of demand and supply are dominant - so restaurants are finding life tough as the population finds that they
cannot afford to eat out as often, but those considerations do not
apply to banks, and it is hard to cut back on basic groceries or to
cut electricity use significantly. None of that is affected by Labour
having kept a lot of businesses going through Covid, or helping those
with housing destroyed through storms and flooding. We do not yet know
what National will do to help local areas with such needs - a road
closed around Waipa recently; C Luxon visited; will anything happen?
Local government appear to have been told that government will not
help with water quality issues; so while there may be income tax cuts
for the very wealthy, average income New Zealanders may find no change
in income tax, but a huge rise in rates . . . - and quite a few local authorities are fairly close to borrowing limits so have to hit
current ratepayers for problems caused by the ""Keep Rates Low""
mantra of Cit/Rats for a very long time . . .
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