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When it’s time to Stop & Shop, the American Publix is finding it costs more than ever to fill a Market Basket. Whizy Kim and Elizabeth Pancotti help Target the problem and explain whether a Price Chopper is coming to save us.
“High prices at the checkout line is not an accident,” said Rakeen Mabud, the chief economist and managing director of policy and research at Groundwork Collaborative. Kellogg’s specifically is part of a concentrated cereal market with very few competitors, leaving families without many choices, she added.
As The Guardian reported in January of this year, half of inflation in the US is due to corporate price gouging. A report written by the Groundwork Collaborative think tank revealed that corporate profits accounted for about 53 percent of inflation during last year's second and third quarters. It is no exaggeration to say that the profit motive at the core of Western society is, quite literally, cannibalizing the family unit and undermining the fundamental well-being of society's most vulnerable - including pets.
As dynamic pricing and the use of AI moves into fast-food, companies risk confusing consumers and even losing customers, Lindsay Owens, the executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative, a DC-based, progressive policy group, wrote in an email to CNN. “After considerable public pushback, Wendy’s is now framing their dynamic pricing strategy as discounts during off-peak times instead of surge pricing during peak times,” she wrote.
The FTC also could force companies to provide warnings on packages when they reduce the size or weight of a product but charge the same price, says Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive economic policy research group. The group has endorsed Casey's bill.
"It's really notable and important that workers' well-being is finally being taken into account when we look at a merger," said Rakeen Mabud, the chief economist and managing director of policy and research at the Groundwork Collaborative, a self-identified progressive economic advocacy organization.
“Grocery store mergers are the absolute last thing Americans facing high prices at the check-out line want to see" states Groundwork's Lindsay Owens. "The FTC is absolutely right to block it, preventing these grocery giants from joining forces to raise costs, shrink competition, and squeeze workers and consumers even further.”
Progressives who pushed Mr. Biden to target corporations earlier and more aggressively on price increases have welcomed his new focus. Lindsay Owens, the executive director of the liberal think tank Groundwork Collaborative in Washington, said in an interview that Mr. Biden’s comments were well timed to help voters understand why, even amid falling inflation, groceries and other key prices remain stubbornly high.
“Inflation has been great for credit card companies, as Visa’s CEO loves to remind investors. But never one to leave well enough alone, they are blowing right past the prime rate, despite a less risky borrower pool, bringing in all-time high margins.”
Dr. Rakeen Mabud, Chief Economist and Managing Director of Policy and Research at Groundwork Collaborative, highlighted the importance of addressing corporate power dynamics that enable price gouging. The legislation, she contended, is a vital safeguard against excessive corporate profit chasing.