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this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2024
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Greed is, by definition, when self interest becomes irrational.
It's not greed, it's just ""international factors"" that are causing them to put prices up. Russia invaded Ukraine so they have to charge extra for a sandwich of course!
Okay perhaps you're joking, but this is something that people across the world are not aware of or don't want to acknowledge. Ukraine is a major agricultural exporter, and a lot of their produce go to farmers across the world. The supply of many Ukrainian produce, especially grain, had been restricted which increased global food price and has not gone down to pre-war level. Fewer supply but more demand leads to higher price. Including in the link I gave, it mentioned that if the war is sustained for long, it could further worsen food crisis in many developing countries. There is a reason why Africa sent delegates to try to mediate on the conflict. But they won't tell you that it is because they rely on stable global food price to feed their people, and much of chicken feeds used by African farmers are imported from Ukraine! People don't see the full picture at how integrally interconnected we all are.
When a country sneeze, we all catch cold.
While that all sounds sane and rational, it's a sad fact the price trend does not appear to go both ways. Do you believe that food prices will go back down after supply goes up?
The rational part of me thinks "yes, of course". The cynical part of me thinks, "no, of course not, aritificially limiting supplies would be too profitable."
Macroeconomics 101 would tell you no, prices won't go down because prices are sticky. Like your salary for example, just because a business is doing poorly your wage won't go down.
I won't get into the weeds about it, but if Ukraine was magically restored tomorrow, prices wouldn't go down but it would help prices from going up faster.
If we see prices go down that's a bad thing, and we are in for a rough time.
its like selling us renewable energy technology via the argument: "why not use the energy of the sun and the wind, its free!" yet energy gets more and more expensive. inflation is a great tool to extract more and more money out of you. its very subtle and slow. but its a scaling effect that really pays out for someone on the receiving end.
I have never in my life witnessed a price going down, so no they won't.
They are not "competitively" pricing their shit anyway. The only competition the megacorporations hold is on who can be the bigger, greedier asshole and get away with it.
While that's definitely a factor in global food trends, I don't see that impacting the US price of food as drastically as companies thinking they can get away with raising prices.
My reasoning is the web of tarrifs and subsidies that the US uses to stabilize domestic markets, prop up farmers, and generally ensure the US is the key grain player. Shortly after the war started the US and Canada also saw a better than average harvest of the grains that Ukraine typically exports.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WPU02120301 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PCU3112113112111 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIUFDSL
The domestic prices paid for wheat and flour both started to fall shortly after the Ukraine invasion, while food prices maintained a rocketing trajectory without much if any changes, with only a slight decrease in the rate of increase about a year after.
While protectionist US food policies are chock full of horrible problems, in this case they should have insulated people from radical changes in the availability and price of wheat.
That consumer prices have risen despite falling costs paid to producers is a big indicator that the cost increases are due to something else in the US.
None of this applies to countries that are dependent on grain imports who have to rely on the global markets instead of adjusting export profitability to stabilize things.
Bread costs are a tiny % of prepared food. You are mostly paying for rent and labor of the employees.
Who, thanks to COVID, realized they were all getting fucked and did a silent rebellion and now make about half of what a professional office worker makes. Those dastardly socialists! ๐ ๐ ๐
Trying to spin this into Africa doesn't care about Ukraine except for the uptick in the cost of food price is crazy
i imagine if your country and the western world wanted to end the war, it could but they have no interest due to how profitable war is, so here we are
Well lookie here, a lemmy.ml account trying to spin a faux concern.
The only way for the war in Ukraine to end is if Russia pulls out from a conflict they started unprovoked, and which the UN General Assembly have overwhelmingly declared illegal. Will you advocate then for Russia to pull out?
Exactly, the Ukrainian seasoning costs way too much to import nowadays
That is not the definition of greed, what are you taking about? I agree that irrational greed is driving it though