Inflation

[divs4ever]

Assuming there is sufficient competition of course.

Not necessarily the case.

the theory is if there is ( sufficient ) demand , supply will follow , however some theories are never 100% reliable

and of course in totalitarian governments , things rarely flow smoothly

 

[SirRumpole]

the theory is if there is ( sufficient ) demand , supply will follow , however some theories are never 100% reliable

and of course in totalitarian governments , things rarely flow smoothly

Who wants totalitarianism, but the free market seems to have failed in certain areas recently.

 

[JohnDe]

Who wants totalitarianism, but the free market seems to have failed in certain areas recently.

The free market has been running since humans started trading, I'm sure we can handle a few fails over the thousands of passes.

 

[divs4ever]

Who wants totalitarianism, but the free market seems to have failed in certain areas recently.

we could debate 'free'

but it seems we are on the path to totalitarianism ( maybe even with a capital 'T' ), despite my personal preferences

free markets work fine unless you sacrifice some freedom for liquidity ( and safety )

 

[wayneL]

Who wants totalitarianism, but the free market seems to have failed in certain areas recently.

The markets are not free. There is no true price discovery without extraneous regulatory influences any more. Everything is manipulated in some way.

Ergo, the failures have not been in "free" markets.

However some failures in truly free markets are necessary and a function of the same AKA creative destruction.

 

[SirRumpole]

The free market has been running since humans started trading, I'm sure we can handle a few fails over the thousands of passes.

Yes and one of the ways of handling "fails" is government intervention.

 

[JohnDe]

Yes and one of the ways of handling "fails" is government intervention.

Yes, and we have plenty of that. Governments have been intervening since the beginning of governments, with modern governments trying to regulate for safety and protection of its citizens.

Now, if you're talking about governments regulating what a business can charge to sell their products and/or services well that is a very messy scenario.

Are there any examples of a successful government regulating business pricing?

I know of the ones that haven't worked, fuel, medical, transport.

Ask yourself this, if someone spent their life saving to start a business, took many risks including working long hours, bank loans, paying for advice, and so on, only to be told that, let's say, an 8% profit is the limit, and the government needs proof that the business is within that range, meaning more red tape and paperwork and possible visits from a regulator that would have to be funded meaning a licensing fee, creating more expenses that have to be passed on. How beneficial is this for the business operator and the consumer? The cost has gone up due to government intervention and regulation, possible business starters have been priced out of the market, causing the rich to monopolize the market and reduce the number of competitors.

The best way to reduce price gouging is by protection competition, allowing easy access for start-ups, and for consumers to shop around and vote with their money.

 

[SirRumpole]

Are there any examples of a successful government regulating business pricing?

I would say that the gas price gap is reasonably successful considering the larg e profits being
made in that industry.

 

[JohnDe]

I would say that the gas price gap is reasonably successful considering the larg e profits being
made in that industry.

Really? There's always a fuss about price increases every long weekend.

 

[SirRumpole]

Really? There's always a fuss about price increases every long weekend.

Yes really.

 

[qldfrog]

the theory is if there is ( sufficient ) demand , supply will follow , however some theories are never 100% reliable

and of course in totalitarian governments , things rarely flow smoothly

Or croony capitalism like in current west countries place enough barriers to new entrants that they keep a usually convenient duopoly..with a cosy split market
Regulations fees and taxes disproportionate to market/income...so eliminating SME as per WEF plan...

 

[divs4ever]

as per WEF plan.

at my age , i have seen many plans fail , and i won't be wishing well for this one either

 

[Smurf1976]

The best way to reduce price gouging is by protection competition, allowing easy access for start-ups, and for consumers to shop around and vote with their money.

Agreed in general but with the exception of natural monopolies.

Spending a fortune to create an artificial market, such that companies can compete to reduce only those costs incurred in setting up that same market, is a crazy idea to say the least.

 

[mullokintyre]

Back inJjanuary, there was discussion about the "rubbery figures" put out by the US BLS.
It seems that the latest figures may still be about as believable as a politician.
From Zero Hedge

Despite today's laughable, 13th consecutive beat of expectations in a row, a number which is only as credible as Biden's 81 million voters...


... the weakening in the US jobs market is gathering pace, and as Bloomberg's Simon White writes, a faster-than-expected deterioration in employment would lead the market to in price more cuts, sooner.

As White notes, month-to-month data points and revisions can often obscure the bigger picture. In the case of the labor market, it is that payrolls’ growth is weakening, especially after revisions (what will April be revised to next month).

And it’s very likely to keep doing so, and at a faster rate, and this can be directly linked to the banking turmoil. There is a very clear and intuitive leading relationship between banks’ lending standards and payrolls. The magnitude of the recent tightening in credit from banks points to payrolls’ annual growth contracting in the next few months.

It would seem that not only are here a lot of phantom jobs out there, but there are a lot of people working multiple jobs.

Indeed, there are several other concerns that jobs data should not be taken at face value. Weaker current data and the revision lower of historical data — as happens at turning points, which typically see the largest revisions — would lead to a rapid re-appraisal of the health of the labor market.

Consider this: the birth-death model added a huge 378k jobs to April’s payrolls, the second biggest monthly increase on record (only last October was higher)!
And get this: the birth-death model has added 1.84 million jobs since last March, or a whopping 43% of all payrolls added during this period. This means that almost half of all "job gains" in the past year are from an excel spreadsheet which assumes 1.84 million new jobs were created from new businesses.

It’s also noteworthy that there continues to be a significant divergence between household employment (which counts employees) and the payrolls survey (which counts jobs). Over 1.2 million more jobs have been created than new employees since March last year. It’s not a vote of confidence in the jobs market if a rising number of people feel they need more than one position to pay their way.

I guess at some point, these figures will start to go the other way as the BLS models kills more jobs on the down turn.
Mick

 

[mullokintyre]

it has been noted above that some of the members of the government as well as some economists blame th profits of business as being a cause of inflation.
Perish the thought that some of their own policies might also contribute somewhat to inflation, but recent decisions by state and federal transport ministers to increase freight road user tax by 6% will not help.
From Evil Murdoch Press

The nation’s peak trucking body has accused state and federal transport ministers of giving freight operators teetering on the brink of collapse the “final push”, after they announced a 6 per cent increase to the road user charge.
The National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) said the decision sounded the “death knell” for many freight businesses operating on tight profit margins, and many in the industry were “bitterly disappointed” with the decision, to come into effect on July 1.

This will of course add to freight costs which will be passed on to anything that moves, ultimately being magnifies along the way as it eventually ends up being paid by consumers.

Transport Minister Catherine King and her state and territory counterparts announced the hike on Monday, saying the increase of 6 per cent per annum for the next three years “struck the right balance” between cost-recovery and minimising financial pressure on the freight industry.

Cost recovery? what a joke! What are the costs involved in a tax? The army of public servants ensuring compliance? Processing the paperwork?
I have spent the past two weeks caravanning around central and northern NSW , and I can inform the minister that the conditions of highways is extreely poor, and the arterial and regional roads even worse.

NatRoad chief executive Warren Clark said many trucking businesses operated on profit margins as slim as 2.5 per cent, and the increase would see average registration costs for a six-axle articulated truck go from $6530 this financial year to $7621 in three years.

Like other non city road users, the truckers will be getting precious little for their outlay to the governments.
Mick

 

[SirRumpole]

it has been noted above that some of the members of the government as well as some economists blame th profits of business as being a cause of inflation.
Perish the thought that some of their own policies might also contribute somewhat to inflation, but recent decisions by state and federal transport ministers to increase freight road user tax by 6% will not help.
From Evil Murdoch Press


This will of course add to freight costs which will be passed on to anything that moves, ultimately being magnifies along the way as it eventually ends up being paid by consumers.


Cost recovery? what a joke! What are the costs involved in a tax? The army of public servants ensuring compliance? Processing the paperwork?
I have spent the past two weeks caravanning around central and northern NSW , and I can inform the minister that the conditions of highways is extreely poor, and the arterial and regional roads even worse.

Like other non city road users, the truckers will be getting precious little for their outlay to the governments.
Mick

Another inflationary measure the hypocrites.

With the price of fuel these days the fuel excise revenue should be booming.

 

[moXJO]

it has been noted above that some of the members of the government as well as some economists blame th profits of business as being a cause of inflation.
Perish the thought that some of their own policies might also contribute somewhat to inflation, but recent decisions by state and federal transport ministers to increase freight road user tax by 6% will not help.
From Evil Murdoch Press


This will of course add to freight costs which will be passed on to anything that moves, ultimately being magnifies along the way as it eventually ends up being paid by consumers.


Cost recovery? what a joke! What are the costs involved in a tax? The army of public servants ensuring compliance? Processing the paperwork?
I have spent the past two weeks caravanning around central and northern NSW , and I can inform the minister that the conditions of highways is extreely poor, and the arterial and regional roads even worse.

Like other non city road users, the truckers will be getting precious little for their outlay to the governments.
Mick

Too many public servants leeching off industry. All these idiotic costs for doing business that add little in value.

 

[qldfrog]

Another inflationary measure the hypocrites.

With the price of fuel these days the fuel excise revenue should be booming.

Fuel excise,GST revenues increased by 10% or probably more as we are talking real inflation and not yet increasing outly..monster budget profit fed on the skeletons of taxpayers ...

 

[Captain_Chaza]

Is Gold a Hedge against INFLATION?

 

[Jeda]