Inflation Explained: The REAL Reason Prices Are Going Up | The Class Room Ep. 2

Inflation is being blamed on workers, government spending, and Joe Biden's Build Back Better agenda. The real culprit? Corporate greed. In our second episode of The Class Room, we dug into financial reports to investigate the real reason that prices are going up. Hint: corporate profits have never been higher.
Episode 2 of The Class Room.
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[@bl4ze1t38]

Millions of people’s businesses were killed during lockdowns and government restrictions in the past 2 years, all the while massive corporations were not only allowed to keep conducting business, but tax money was pumped into them as “stimulus”. Their competition was killed and hasn’t really recovered, and they got all kinds of free money at the same time. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer, all because of the government

[@jamesrosewell9081]

Yup

[@H7.-_987]

A big shift of money went to the 1% during all this plandemic, a planned war on the working class, domino effect into health-scare, commonly known as piggybacking one crisis on top of another

[@jackiechappell4415]

BLAZE 1T that was well said sir. It's so depressing to know tomorrow is gonna b the same as today 🤬🤬 Raiseing prices to combat rising prices????? Makes me sick

[@mikeyorkav4039]

Lol, welcpme to capitalism...where your governments are run by the people with the most money

[@phyllisstransky1299]

Well, the government is actually controlled by the wealthiest of the wealthy! What else do you expect?

[@leelindsay5618]

CEOs are raising prices for no reason....like how they normally do....while they don't raise wages for employees. I don't buy Tyson chicken or any corporate meats these days.

[@mysliwya]

And you probably buy on Amazon killing the competition. This video is all bs

[@CAsnowman]

@@mysliwya care to provide any proof or evidence it’s all nonsense? Because he’s 100% correct, and you must have something to gain by suppressing this kind of information. Inflation is a complete lie, cost of living is the highest it’s ever been while jobs are paying overall the least. It’s obvious to anyone who isn’t actively taking advantage and benefiting off of that system. People like you just can’t comprehend you’re making bank off the backs of the people doing ALL the real work. What a fucking joke dude at least offer some evidence like the video gave plenty of

[@nerd2814]

@@mysliwya There is no such thing as ethical consumption under capitalism. We have to do this shit just to get by. Sorry, that's the ugly truth.

[@mysliwya]

@@nerd2814 you don’t have to do this you are just lazy. I get by just fine without Amazon empire. I understand they have great service but I can get along with out them and I limit my online shopping. You have a choice to how you shop. Stop being lazy get out in public go to a swap meet a mall a independent hardware store and get what you need. Capitalism gives you a choice. Not other economic systems give you the ability to choose like capitalism.

[@nerd2814]

@@mysliwya Except capitalism DOES NOT give you choices. How? By pricing out the little guy. That's how the mafia works - big businesses can lower their prices down so low that local businesses can't even compete. These go bankrupt and eventually the assets get bought up by the big businesses. Big fish eats the small fish. Eventually there's no small fish to eat and now the businesses can jack up the prices however they like.

[@charliecooper3655]

Thanks for posting this well-made piece. It would help to explain that the power to raise prices at whim comes from lack of competition caused by corporate capture of regulatory agencies and lack of anti-trust enforcement.

[@NickDeubert]

100%... it's ironic because the right is so pro Capitalist but they aren't supporting what makes Capitalism so successful which is competition. They are adamantly against communism, yet are ok with the US moving more and more towards single monopolistic organizations that control whole industries. And the only thing that can prevent the run-away effect is regulations, which the right is also generally against.

[@Savvynomad225]

@@NickDeubert you mean the left? The left is all about big tech censorship and letting companies like Amazon, Apple and Google shut down any form of competition, because jAnUARy 6Th, reeeeeeee!

[@Angela-iv7qy]

Democrats are in charge. Don’t blame the GOP. Biden is a Babbling Idiot. Komrad Kamala is a Moron. They don’t do anything. Biden can’t even engage with the public because he is so spaced out & practically catatonic!

[@AcornHillHomestead]

Amen.

[@brentt6714]

Democrats are capitalists too, of course they're not going to help regular people 😂 Gotta go way further left than "Democrat" to get the changes we need

[@jbradleychen]

Great video! What it doesn't mention is the lack of competition that would otherwise create downward pressure on prices.

[@markwilkinson8137]

Exactly. Corporations can do this as much as they want because we don't actually have a "free market economy" and mergers and acquisitions mean that there aren't nearly as many competitors as there could be who'd be willing to offer lower prices to compete and grow. Although both parties are now so beholden to large corporate donations that anti-trust legislation never goes anywhere. And the more politicians are put into "safe" districts via gerrymandering where they don't actually have to listen to voters to stay in office, the more they can just complain and do nothing.

[@scottfinnegan5405]

The moment a government leader puts restrictions on a monopoly(see president FDR).. people cry "socialism". It's either trickling down or not!

[@marilyncoyne4034]

Faiz Shakir Qatar funded non profit?

[@marilyncoyne4034]

When Obama made Gov. take over student loans in 2008 & took private banks put it purposely took down the program!

[@jamesrosewell9081]

@@markwilkinson8137 blame cronyism

[@1wer819]

As soon as the Democrats voted for stimulus payments to help We The People, the Oligarchs raised prices in order to absorb that $$$ for themselves! Nutrition assistance for citizens goes directly into their corporations profits.

[@blaze9525]

Exactly

[@jaypaul8167]

But, why did the democrats think they needed stimulus payments, because thy planted the covid narrative and stopped this country from producing, and no one is mentioning this?How about stopping America from producing fossil fuels on day one?

[@ZentaBon]

Index minimum wage to inflation. Bam. Then absorbing the price increases becomes pointless because that money stays worth the exact same.

[@Brian-tb1op]

@@ZentaBon a workers wages are driven by productivity and wages.

[@ZentaBon]

@@Brian-tb1op if that were true, our wages wouldn't have lost about 50% the value/buying power they used to have despite us having about double productivity per worker since the 1970's We should really be having about double pay on average, of what we have already if based on productivity per worker alone.

[@darinkrinovich2062]

I knew these companies were taking advantage of this situation. The dollar store raised it's prices $.25 months ago. $.25 isn't that much but for that store that's a 25% raise. Onething if they would of raised it $.05 -.10 that would of been closer to actually cost increases. To me I took that as taken advantage of the situation. Grocery stores have done the same thing, their pricing doesn't match actual cost increases. I mean if a company that make cereal let's say raised it's prices $.10 to cover cost increases. One would think that every place that sold that brand would raise it's prices by same amount. Not so price increases are all over the place. One store I shop at raised it's bag cereal by a fricking dollar and another one only $.10 -.15 if even that. This is total BS our politicians are not representing we the people whatsoever

[@JM-zg2jg]

Nah man. That 25% at the dollar store was actually a long time coming. They have been a dollar store for more than three decades. So three decades without any inflation driven price increases, while maintaining a large and varied selection of reasonably useful objects. I’m not a corporate lackey, but the dollar store doesn’t appear to be part of the problem.

[@forestpagan4813]

@@JM-zg2jg many things that dollar tree got a dollar for sold at Walmart for 63 cents 🤔

[@JRG333]

@@forestpagan4813true but there is many other of the same dollar store items at walmart for well over many dollars. They are really not the problem. The problem is the inconsistency of pricing and corporate greed

[@teenanguyen217]

Inflation is man made to keep people working and working HARD. Covid made humans realise that they can live slowly, on their own terms and without constant need to consume and hence less production and less ecoonomic activity. But the capitalists can't have that can they....

[@vebdaklu]

Exactly! Capitalism subsists on exploitation and scarcity, and it cannot exist under any other terms.

[@razzberry1262]

​@@vebdaklu Refute the calculation problem.

[@MrMarinus18]

Sometimes but inflation can have many origins. The initial inflation was real and the prices did in large part go up because of disruptions in the supply chain, mainly by China's zero covid policy. However when costs went back down prices didn't. Companies were forced to raise prices, however when they could lower them again they decided not to.

[@robertgreblheo]

Could we stop supporting these major corporations and support other businesses.. I know small and medium size businesses that are greedy.. but greed and laziness.. speculation is nothing new

[@greenleafyman1028]

Yes of course, I support food coops and other smaller businesses. Just like you said, there are small businesses that are greedy but the point is that they cannot become so greedy since inflating their price so much will bankrupt them due to so many competitors ready to lower their prices to attract more customers. That doesn't happened in mega corporations since they can simply lobby government and monopolized the industry than doing a real competition.

[@frankd.506]

We have the largest separation of wealth of any industrialized nation in the world, we need a maximum wage for CEOs and a much better minimum wage or better yet unionize and we won't have to count on politicians to do the right thing.

[@NyetTube]

🎯

[@MissAshley42]

We need to tax the living hell out of the ultra-rich. The answer to "too much money" in the system is to yank it back from those hoarding it.

[@frankd.506]

@@MissAshley42 Biden and the decent democrats are pushing for more IRS agents to go after big time cheats, tax havens etc. Trump left the IRS so depleted they can't accomplish anything and that was the idea.

[@unfetteredconversation9306]

@@MissAshley42 they will just leave.

[@frankd.506]

@@jarhead1199 And it's expanding more each day though wages are finally inching up, also you might not want to use Scandavian countries because not only do they have better wages, education and health care but they are the happiest nations in the world.

[@loandbehold650]

Another great video. Another example of how we are being screwed unnecessarily with a pandemic as a false excuse

[@themann4633]

You are not the most intelligent person out there. Just believe that makes you FEEL good. M1, M2, M3 are economic reality. But of course you don't even know what that means, nor do people you care...

[@SuperViolaplayer]

@@themann4633 Why do you have to be so obnoxious? Does it make you feel like a big man to insult people?

[@see949]

@@themann4633 hey...I care. Can you tell me and anyone else who also cares what M1, M2, M3 means and how it affects this video?

[@bgiv2010]

I get it! The corporate duopoly serves to get the 75-99% to feel like the 1-74% aren't working hard enough and are taking too much govt money. The middle class is shrinking but, instead of grouping up with the lower class as a unified working class, this is presented as the fault of the lower class rather than politicians and billionaires. Hopefully the middle class figures it out soon.

[@newtrebel]

On the nail. I would add that there actually is no such thing as a middle class. That's just a clever term politicians use to create what you describe: fake competition and fear between what I would call the better-off working class ('middle') versus the worse-off working class. Where in reality, both groups share the same interests and have a common enemy; the owning class.

[@bgiv2010]

@@newtrebel I was just practicing media training; trying not to scare the normies ;) how would you explain the owner class (or class in general)? I think theory-adjacent terms scare/offend those who accept classism as "human nature".

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

There is no middle class. There is working class and owner class (rentier); those who work to make money and those who make money without having to do any work. Even the bourgeoisie would be considered working class. EDIT: I see NewtRebel already said the same thing lol

[@tonywalters7298]

@@newtrebel There is the existence of the petty bourgoise/upper middle/ professional managerial class (whatever you want to call them) which make up the upper 20% of income earners who have benefitted from neoliberal policies and work in their interests and see the poor and working classes as "deadweight" in society

[@christinefury1040]

@@tonywalters7298 do they know their days are numbered? Or are their egos pacified by the “others don’t work hard like I do” and “people are lazy and want to stay on the dole?” That’s what the right wing nut propaganda puts out! “Other people are lazy and YOU are exceptional.” Cracks me up! Because these desperate poor people working for peanuts need to believe some fantasy about their dismal lives. They need to stop voting for the snake oil salesmen!

[@G8tr1522]

remember kids, inflation is due to dozens of factors. All contribute, but no one will ever know the exact reason why it happened. Also remember that stimulus checks were less than 15% of all stimulus, and most if it went to corporations.

[@eliyahubenysrael6272]

Thank you for this information! You all are doing a great service to the public..keep it going!

[@martina5296]

Sadly most of the public has no clue and may not even understand that companies/corporations are raising prices and blaming inflation. The only way to get pricing down is to just buy what they need, and try hard not to buy what they don't need. And buy the least expensive food, other products. Also buy from companies that aren't as fully greedy as others. That would probably need some looking into, but worth it. Companies will just keep raising prices if we just shrugged our shoulders and just keep buying things we mostly don't need. Complaining doesn't do anything if that's all we do. Because companies know the public is apathetic and they can get away with raising prices sky high.

[@sunnydelite144]

Ofc they are doing this on purpose.

[@michealklee8844]

Solidarity forever ✊🏽union strong 💪🏽 Chicago UBC 🇺🇸

[@MrMattMohler]

What!? You mean they aren't happy with making enough money? 🙄

[@deenanthekemoni5567]

If you or I found $100,000 on the ground we would be ecstatic, elated, overjoyed.. If a Billionaire found $100,000 on the ground, they'd be discouraged and pissed off when they didn't find *MORE* .

[@MrMattMohler]

@@deenanthekemoni5567 $100,000 is life changing for most of us...

[@deenanthekemoni5567]

@@MrMattMohler That would be the point.

[@BubblegumCreepydoll]

My man works as a manager for one of the food companies in this country. In one of their meetings the CEO literary gloated about hiking the prices 38% “due to inflation” which is way over the price hike that was needed “due to inflation”. My man was a quite disturbed and disgusted by this.

[@justinhealey-htcohio3798]

I love this Channel!!! HOW THE HELL DOES IT ONLY HAVE 18K FOLLOWERS? ALMOST LIKE THERE ARE SOME POWERFUL ENTITIES SUPPRESSING THE CONTENT OF MORE PERFECT UNION!!!

[@blackthird]

Probably because they are full of shit

[@ToilOrStarve]

This channel should be named "Biden Apologist Network" or BAN for short.

[@justinhealey-htcohio3798]

@@ToilOrStarve You have issues.... Seek help...

[@szellllest]

This video is over 2 years old in December 2023.. So sad 😢

[@keithbrady9754]

So, the fact that the Fed has doubled the money supply in the past year doesn't cause money to be worth less? What about mass production of printed money that doesn't have anything for collateral to back up the worth of that printed paper? Can that make money worth less and cause inflation?

[@michaeld4861]

The existence of more money does not in itself cause inflation. Example: If I printed 10 trillion dollars and kept it all to myself or pumped it into some investment like the stock market or gold then that money is not actually in circulation and therefore has no ability to drive up prices of unrelated things.

[@RextheRebel]

@@michaeld4861 but the stimulus checks didn't even come from money printing. That's what no one seems to be aware of.

[@fturla___156]

It's simply pricing power and/or lack of competition. That's it. The supply issues in terms of the inability to provide goods and services is not the problem. This is why the vast majority of inflation forces is not done by the population or outside forces. You need to hike interest rates up quickly to kill off incentives of companies to raise prices. The core inflation rate in the last 50 plus years has been near 7% annually and the last three years it's well over 10%, which means if you factor that into the sum of the half decade, it raises annual inflation rates above 7% if no recession period is allowed to occur in the next 2 years. People don't realize that we must have a long recession period to halt inflation if we want annual inflation forces to be below 7%. The government stating that inflation has only been 2 to 4% in the last decade is an explicit lie that you can verify by yourself by creating your own basket of goods and services and calculating the change in prices.

[@Bcarv615]

We also have to blame ourselves….stop buying Starbucks, make your own coffee…stop buying at Amazon, go to your local stores. We’re lazy and we go for what’s easy and then complain afterwards. I’m not saying I’m perfect, but we also have to be willing to make sacrifices as well

[@derbywinner6316]

You are correct.

[@patientzero5685]

I have made a lot of changes too. The most expensive stores have sales and premium brands accept coupons but those prices are still more expensive than my theory. Don’t buy anything unnecessary, buy generic.

[@newtrebel]

@Hypergamous Wife nice one. And the sad truth. It's not out of luxury that many people are forced to shop at these awful companies. If it isn't the low prices that are giving people little choice, it's the physical absence of choice given how big stores push out other businesses.

[@7genslater]

I don't think it's necessarily sacrifices that need to be made.... like, just to carry on your example of Starbucks... communities could easily organize, via the internet, to have neighborhood morning coffee meetings at community centers or churches or parks etc... and actually build community. Building Community is one of the best solutions to All of our issues and would dramatically increase the quality of our lives. I bet there is an awesome Barista in your community waiting to be inspired, instead of being turned off by corporate slavery.

[@sueelliott4793]

Same as supermarkets here in New Zealand, food prices have inflated over 17% but in the news recently they had a piece on how or supermarket duopoly are coining it and how they are bragging about their over a million a day in profits.

[@user7966]

The New Zealand inflation rate is bad. How much more can the squeeze the average New Zealand before fair policy is put in place. We need minimum wage to be raise. Social welfare to be raise. Homelessness is growing.

[@lisat.7310]

Blind greed never learns from the mistakes of others before them -- the results being either revolution or a not-so-beneficial new economic system like the Socialism many are evolving into in Western countries like ours. (America & New Zealand)

[@blocknex]

Great job! We need you to get this word out! Thanks for your work

[@mrid10t]

this video seems to think that introducing 6 trillion dollars of new money into circulation has nothing todo with inflation. a truly astounding point of view that shows a clear lack of understanding

[@summerof100beaches6]

Excellent presentation.

[@mikey6214]

They don’t explain what money is and how is it created, if you only knew and understood this, then you would understand why things happen the way they do. It’s not just greed, it’s mathematics. Our monetary system is mathematically designed to fail.

[@mikey6214]

Most money comes into existence as debt. For every dollar created, there is interest owed. So where does this interest money come from? You have to create it, but when you create it, more interest is owed again. It is mathematically going to fail/collapse eventually. What you see in your bank account as savings, is someone else’s debt. And the biggest debtor of all is the government. And who funds the government? Look in the mirror, tax payer.

[@wreitz455]

This is more relevant now than ever. The monopoly company I work for has record profits has raised fees on the product and laid off 10s of thousands of workers. The CEO has received a new contract that doubles his salary and $60 billion in stock buybacks to enrich the shareholders. Corporations and the rich will push the elasticity of price and or employment via lower wages and lay offs until they reach the bottom all under the guise of higher costs when in reality the company is responsible for the problem in the first place.

[@superpanoramix]

So informative and well produced.

[@leithmartin419]

you guys missed the fact that taxes come out of profits not revenue. If companies make more profit they pay more tax, they can't pass it on to the consumer cuz they'd just be paying more tax. Taxing profits can encourage investment since it's a way for the company to increase their actual profits and wealth.

[@mikey6214]

He also admitted the corporation is raising prices to appease the investors, so who is at the top of this greed push? It is the investor who is pushing the Corp to raise prices. Who is the investor? Look in the mirror. 401k and mutual funds and pension plans.

[@noseeumz2857]

More people should be seeing this.

[@burnindownthehouse]

So we know corporations are raising prices significantly to increase profit margins and they are flat out telling us they are doing this. And they say they will continue to raise prices by a lot to increase profit margins. These are record breaking profit margins and they want more years of record breaking profit margins. So we know corporations are driving the inflation. But somehow, Americans are managing to eat the cost. I don't know how. The reason I say that is because the price increases in goods and especially rent are so very steep. But Americans are consuming at the same rate. It has not slowed. How are Americans eating these costs? There is no way their pay has gone up so much that they can afford this. You would think people would get together and protest. But nobody is doing that. They are just accepting the very steep price increases and paying them. So, if corporations can hike the prices (and shrink the size of their product at the same time) and get away with it, why don't they just increase the price by 100% per year? why do a 10% increase or a 15% increase? why not just hit the consumer with a 100% price increase if they know the consumer will not slow their consumption? That's what they've basically done with rent, especially here in Florida. Tenants are getting kicked out because their rent went from $1200 per month to $2400 per month. But hey, somebody is moving in there and paying $2400 per month. Landlords seem to have no problem finding people who can pay that. And if they raise it up to $3200 the next year, someone will pay that, too. So I am baffled as to how Americans are eating these outrageous costs. where are they getting the money from?

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

We don't have time to protest after being forced to take on that 3rd part time job and add that 5th roommate to our households. I think part of the rent thing is people from rich states like California and New York moving to lower COL states bringing with them crap-loads of money. They think $2400/mo is cheap. Locals are trying to survive with more roommates, help from family, state assistance, taking on additional work, etc.

[@achinthmurali5207]

It’s NOT JUST corporate greed. But yes corporate greed does share a good deal of responsibility.

[@brettpalmer1770]

Comment

[@nickf7313]

This is a very well done video. Sharing the shit out of it. Sick of arguing to people that they have no idea what drives inflation.

[@johndorsaneo691]

Politicians don't serm to have a clue about how to curb inflation (other than raise interest rates) or its real cause and how to correct it. But the parties are very good at blaming each other. That's why "Political Science" is an oxymoron.

[@lephtovermeet]

It's almost definitely a combination of multiple contributing issues of which supply chain, instability, and excess money supply are all part, however it's crazy to not think that corporate is a major contributing factor. Seemingly every major Corp ever realized during the pandemic they can provide absolute trash service and actually raise their prices, and not only survive but thrive, have some of their best quarters ever. Why would they go back? Especially when in almost every major industry ultimately there's like 2-4 major controlling conglomerates. So F it, let's jack up prices as high as we possibly can until people are absolutely forced to cut back, provide absolutely crap customer service and general quality, then back down the prices a teany tiny bit, then sit back and enjoy

[@EroticInferno]

They take the price increase and they don’t even give it to their workers.

[@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane]

Great video, subscribed!

[@jper1245]

Yea the thing is though, there isn't much that ordinary middle and lower class people like me can do about it... So there isnt push back because we can't push back... What are the options...

[@breaktide251]

Thank you for your work

[@RextheRebel]

People on the Right would say that profit and greed have always existed and question why now all of a sudden it's causing prices to inflate. So is the answer: because record profits have occured rapidly amongst the most powerful organizations? Could it also be because small businesses were decimated during the pandemic? It could also be the shock that came from people having lots of buying power and then suddenly not anymore, on top of the economy opening back up while productivity remained at levels too low to keep up with the sudden opening?

[@michaellamp2165]

It's very simple when there's a spike in the price of energy, gas and oil, the cost of producing goods increases and so the cost of goods sold, so shutting the pipeline is a big mistake

[@joeyriddle428]

Wrong but u tried

[@lamarp.b.j6747]

Wrong. No pipeline was shut down. The keystone pipeline is still up and running.

[@RamblinJer]

Thing is "we" have the power to stop this "greed". It's ridiculous the ones making these corporations filthy rich have the least. It's far past the time, let's stand together and show them who really has the power. A good week long labor strike will send a strong message.

[@suruha2306]

I tossed my tv, haven't owned a car in 10 years and I buy locally. What else can I, or anyone, do, Judd?

[@rutessian]

plant a garden and raise chickens.

[@cbsaywhat...7968]

Great Video!

[@magnusoneil322]

Thank you so much for this video, but it would be better if you were to source your resources in the description for people who use this as research :)

[@rebeccachambers4701]

Your pay raise 3% yearly their price inflated by 12%. Thats 9% out of your paycheck. . Productivity goes up we should have more money to properly represent our productivity. The problem is all that extra money that's generated from extra productivity and its representation is also hoarded at the top like all the money made prior to that but as the inflammation goes up and as you only keep a very small percentage of that inflation that difference is even more money that is being taken from your paycheck you're not getting a pay raise every year when you get a 3% raise you are actually getting your pay lowered every year with a 3% raise because they're keeping the 9% they're keeping the 9% for themselves you'd be making an even stable paycheck if you got the full 12% but you would been be getting a pay raise if you got something over 13%. But you're not you're losing that's why every couple years if you just got a new job you'd actually be making a little bit more but since they're also doing the same thing you're losing money regardless and there is barely any money to be made as well as extreme price gouging at every facet of life.

[@JusticeAlways]

Imagine spending 100's of $Millions$ buying the Supreme Court and not even phase your budget plans.

[@alphaomega1089]

Thank you!

[@nhajas1]

This is outrageous this is contagious

[@natenader3815]

The absurd they say inflation is 7-10% while it’s 350% on all grocery

[@cityguyusa]

This is what CEOs are paid the big bucks for making decisions to increase prices. That takes someone who makes a lot of money to think of such a change. But I say it all tongue in cheek because they've probably not made another decision in any recent year.

[@bl4ze1t38]

Inflation is very much actually occurring, and of course when inflation occurs you have to raise prices to keep your business from faltering. Why is inflation happening? If you print money, tax people more, and then pump a lot of that into the economy (particularly into massive corporations), the dollar will be exponentially devalued. That’s what we’re seeing today, inflation is almost entirely the fault of the current US government. A lot this printing and pumping especially occurred during the pandemic, when productivity was extremely low. On the other hand, the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer also very much because of the government, such as the aforementioned pumping of money into corporations for example, inflation in general benefits the rich by killing their competitors as well. Not to mention, government literally shit down all smaller businesses and let the big guys have an oligopoly on everything. It’s skewed in this direction because of all kinds of bribing and corporate control over the government. In the end though, it is the government’s fault, they are the authoritarian trash doing all of this to us

[@ington3623]

nailed it. another interesting fact is that over 40% of all US dollars in existence have been printed in the last 18 months… if anyone has money sitting in the bank invest it into assets after doing your research because week after week, month after month, the US dollar is losing value and there’s no reason to suggest that will change anytime soon

[@deenanthekemoni5567]

VERY well said. The #1 topic the Media is avoiding; *Our country is being MURDERED by Corporate Greed, and Nothing else.*

[@mikeyorkav4039]

You act like this is a government issue and not a capitalism issue. Who controls the government in our system? Who elects these people? Surely not us

[@alexbjork2751]

@@mikeyorkav4039 well we have capitalist government, so it is the fault of our government, who are suggesting is at fault?

[@0Rocketmonkey]

brilliant 🙄 So the govt, 'forced' large corporations to raise prices by giving them hundreds of millions of dollars and tax breaks and reducing their competition. The problem is large corporations effectively run the govt. , they game the system to benefit themselves. The answer is taking control away from corporations and giving us back a democratic government, not giving corporations even more power by just getting rid of the govt.

[@atashikokoni]

Nice explainer guys

[@googlebanmetoomuch2601]

You mean to tell me these companies are businesses and not charities!?🤯😱

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

Who is asking businesses to give their products away for free?

[@free2express08]

It is time for a new movement. Hit them where it hurts. BUY GENERIC!!

[@SharienGaming]

ah the "BUY STUFF" approach - im sure that will teach em... you know, thats still profit for them? the generic stuff is usually produced by the same companies under a different label

[@desmondclark3193]

So these politicians have the power to restrict the 2nd but they can’t affect our pay or inflation.

[@justyouforget3609]

Support unions and fair labor practices. Economics 101 " give the bottom more and they will spend it" economy boom. Any business supporting Labor unions will be the future.

[@razzberry1262]

Spending doesnt fuel an economy.....low time preferences and market-satisfying investments made possible only through the building of REAL SAVINGS generated from REAL PRODUCTION is what creates prosperity. The economy isnt an equation that needs solving. The economy isnt just accounting.

[@samsungfanboy]

I love this series! It's very informative

[@Kalahee]

Slight thing that bothers me is how the whole arguement goes "they blame inflation, but it is greed, look at their profit". Pandemic did a number on many services, but food was not one of them. Even increased price isn't enough to explain their profit. Some businesses expended during pandemic. If blaming inflation for raising price is simplistic, it is also true to blame greed.

[@SuperKillroy1]

I have poor vision in one eye and I am a daily monocle wearer that is discriminated against because monocle wearers are often depicted as an evil rich people. I'm fighting against this discrimination!

[@newtrebel]

Send a letter to the publisher of Monopoly who popularized the character, instead of blaming a leftist KZbin channel 😀

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

@@newtrebel The Monopoly man never had a monocle. That's the Mandela Effect.

[@matthewatwood207]

Pricing has "improved." Lol. That is good. It's better than good. It's fine.

[@StephanieFink515]

Commenting to help boost this thing.

[@2dush2]

I knew it was the CEOs. Damn! Well, now we know printing more money doesn’t cause any problems. So, let them print enough so we don’t have to pay taxes. Simple enough.

[@charlessmith263]

And inflation also caused the destruction of and the demise of the Berlin nightclub in Chicago most recently, as their workers tried to "strike" for higher wages. Final blow and a stinging blow!

[@trunkit8749]

Anyone else click on this video because they thought it explained the science behind porn?

[@martina5296]

The public is partly to blame. The public complains, yet that's all the public does. Yet, the public has more power than companies and corporations to bend them to our will. Yet, those companies and corporations know that the public won't do anything other than just whine and complain and still buy products. Just buy what you need and buy products (whether food or other kind of products) that are either on sale or least expensive. Plus, it will safe people money using only what they buy and have at home.

[@SharienGaming]

there is no ethical consumption under capitalism you cant buy your way out of the exploitation system shifting public opinion...you know the thing you are railing against as "complaining" and "whining" is something that actually exerts some political pressure and btw... guess what buying the cheapest stuff does...it usually means you will have to replace it the soonest again... and of course that it was produced with heavy exploitation, because you can bet that no worker along the chain was paid fairly and when it comes to essentials like food... cheap also usually means unhealthy... but the problem is... people need food...they cant not eat... so when they dont have money to spend...they go with the cheapest option, because they have literally no other choice that doesnt involve starvation THAT is who these price hikes prey upon

[@billygr7628]

If only the mainstream news media were honest. What's really behind inflation.

[@russondaholley6415]

Its ALL about GREED!🥴🥴

[@Brian-uy2tj]

A number of years ago I read an article about a study that had been done on which job categories had the most Psychopaths (not sociopaths) per capita. The number one job with the highest portion of these people being psychopaths was corporate CEO. Incidentally number two was Surgeon. We're doomed, huh?

[@garethbell4603]

Just wait till they introduce central bank digital currency then you will lose control of your own finances let alone about the rising inflation and prices an increasingly expensive rental of houses

[@cynthiahutchins5790]

Pay politicians (and people like carlson) LESS. even though it isn’t the be all end all answer, it would be a good thing.

[@seamon9732]

Here's a sacrifice for the algorithm gods.

[@crystalchic6836]

I just dont buy it until it goes on sale at the price I want

[@newtrebel]

Which is actually the price it's supposed to be. 'sales' are a scam. 2 for 1's would ruin a company if you really got one for free. The reality is that if you don't buy it in sale, you are simply paying double.

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

@@newtrebel Precisely.

[@sheldonmlg]

My American Agenda teacher showed us this video today. Rly interesting video lol.

[@clarestucki5151]

This is total nonsense. It's true that corporations with monopoly power can get away with raising prices arbitrarily (insulin manufacturers are a good example), but the vast majority of businesses do NOT have monopoly power, and can only raise prices arbitrarily at the risk of losing sales.

[@vincentbartholdi8648]

People had the money to pay higher prices because they were given money

[@clintb6555]

Warran Buffet said “We’re raising prices, people are raising prices to us, and it’s being accepted” He’s not saying they are raising prices for fun. He’s saying he’s a bit surprised by the demand despite raised prices. During the pandemic the government replaced people’s income with printed money and the goods and services that person used to bring to the economy no longer existed - but that individual is still demand due to having a ‘free’ income. Tyson raised prices because their expenses went up, but is more profitable likely because less people are going out. 50% of our currency in existence was printed in past 18 months. It increased asset prices and everyone who had assets (homes, stocks, etc) became much more wealthy while the average person got a couple stimulus checks and paid it back with inflation. Are home prices and used car prices going up because of greedy homeowners selling their homes at high prices for fun? Or is because of supply and demand. The economy is supply and demand. The government artificially inflated demand and lowered supply. Prices will go up and it was foreseeable a year ago. Companies are not raising prices “for fun”. The “stimulus” has already helped separate the wealth gap further and minimum wage increases will just blend the lower class and middle class together since they will inevitably have the same purchasing power at the rate minimum wage is going increasing (far faster than the average pay increase of 3% per year) The new government narrative is the latest spending package will help ease inflation even though we need to print even more money to fund it Companies are not raising prices for fun, but they will continue to be worth more dollars if the government continues to devalue the the currency and the people will continue to experience more hardship - and then vote to devalue it further and fight fire with fire

[@MissAshley42]

Wrong. Government, responsible government, is _not_ artificial demand. Social programs are created to enable _existing_ demand from those unable to express it due to circumstances beyond their control. People don't suddenly stop needing food, shelter, health care, etc. when their income becomes insufficient or ceases altogether. Their demand for these things doesn't become "artificial" just because it's paid for with a government benefit as opposed to income from an employer. Rather than chide government for attempting to insulate its citizenry from a viciously predatory capitalist system, we should chide our government for not doing enough to bring the worst perpetrators of that system to heel.

[@clintb6555]

Wrong. Welfare is Government giving people demand who do not produce supply - effectively creating a supply and demand imbalance. Especially when the money was printed which devalued all current dollars in existence. The American Government is there to protect rights, secure borders, and carry out foreign policy. They are not there to redistribute wealth - although they do.

[@clintb6555]

@@MissAshley42 Sorry for belated reply, but just because somebody wants something does not mean they are “existing demand”. I want a Ferrari, but I do not contribute to Ferrari’s demands. Is that because of reasons outside my control? No, because we live in capitalism. But I did not apply the effort to create goods/services which I could trade, either directly or indirectly, for the Ferrari. Social programs create demand. Also capitalism is not predatory. Government intervening and injecting capitalism with socialism will make capitalism predatory by taking from the working class and giving to people who contribute nothing - effectively blending the middle class with the lower class and allowing those like you to blame capitalism. Pure capitalism is the most fair. A capitalist thinks “I need to produce/contribute goods/services to society, or else I starve.” A socialist thinks “I am breathing, therefore I deserve.”

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

@@clintb6555 “I need to produce/contribute goods/services to society, or else I starve.” That society would die out because no one would be able to breed unless newborns were accepted on the job site.

[@RextheRebel]

@@clintb6555 by definition, yes, the reason your desire doesn't contribute to economic demand for a Ferrari is because you can't afford it. Are you saying you don't work hard enough to earn money to pay for that car?

[@1m2rich]

Packages are getting so small. Corporate greed.

[@NvdVeen]

Coming back to this after a few weeks. It's funny how the most popular comments on this video are all praising your work. Thank you, comrades, for bringing diversity of thought to this conversation and spitting and censoring out all who say otherwise

[@mli3793]

I mean if people are still buying in the same quantity its fine. The big problem is in reality the debt fueled economy that solidifies huge mega corporatations that have squshed any competition trying to get in to the market.

[@dustyallen1312]

So in other words the government is helping the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor

[@deenanthekemoni5567]

The Government is helping those who were *BORN* disgustingly unbelievably rich become slightly more disgustingly unbelievably rich while rendering the rest of the Nation naked and homeless* (fixed your statement for you, but yes, you are 100% correct. Agreed 👍)

[@Oxazepam65]

People are surprised big company are raising price to make more profit...🤔 Making more profit is their goal... It always was and always will be... You are free to buy your food elsewhere or grow it in your garden.

[@theintrovertedaspie9095]

Some people can't grow their own food. It's a lot of work. And they may have dirt or suitable ground to plant seeds. Not to mention having to keep pests away. Besides, it can take weeks or maybe months to grow stuff. And considering how busy people are, theres probobly no time or energy to grow crops anyway. But still, it's worth a try I guess. At least for some.

[@theintrovertedaspie9095]

And some people have to deal with food deserts. Now they have to travel for great distances just to get to the nearest farmers market or grocery store. Especialy ones with affordable prices. This is one factor as to why people just settle for processed foods or fast food chains. It's closer, its arguable cheaper, it's more convenient, and its TASTY. That's probobly one reason why fast food consumption has risen so much over the years as well as the obesity rate.

[@ramenrider7382]

Buying local is the way to go. If companies make profits every step along vertically integrated production, buying as close to home and as close to unprocessed is not only healthier, climate conscious, but screws big agro cash flow.

[@SharienGaming]

that wont work for the poor... they are lucky if they can get something fresh and they certainly dont have the resources to travel somewhere that gives them access to farmers directly consumption side is never going to fix this problem... we need systemic change and breaking up of those hyperconsolidated companies

[@ramenrider7382]

@@SharienGaming that depends on where they are. Obviously urban food deserts will have a problem, but as local agriculture expands so does distribution. Local produce is inherently cheaper bc you're bypassing cargo costs

[@SharienGaming]

@@ramenrider7382 community networks that grow their own food can indeed help quite a bit - especially since they can easily prioritize the families in their area that are affected the most though thats generally not something that is feasible at scale or without help in asphalt desert cities... basically you need some space to grow stuff in but even small scale operations can alleviate the worst malnutrition problems by growing veggies and distributing them within their community but lets be real - thats not something that will ever be solved by corporations... in fact it is likely that they will fight tooth and nail against it, because it makes people less dependant on them (i would expect things like pushing for requirements for growing permits and buying up or rent hiking spaces viable for this kind of food growing)

[@shanescott8241]

Still need to fix taxes. We are burning through money, but it's only because we aren't collecting

[@lincoln5748]

We were oil dependent with our own fuel until Biden closed it down and went back to getting out of the country

[@garethbell4603]

Coles Aldi's Woolworths all doing the same thing rising their prices higher and then claiming responsibility on inflation

[@mauricio9564]

The hyper inflation occurring rn was worse in 1971,how did Nixon stop it?A Republican off all people imposed a 90 day freeze on prices,and immediately inflation fell by 3% and after Nixon left office is when inflation kicked back up again .Inflation isn’t just something that happens,in private capitalism it’s usually spurred by private companies realizing they have an excuse to raise prices,at least when they are not in an environment with no war or a currency crisis in which case it’s logical.Otherwise it’s what is going in the US rn,what Joe Biden should do is do what Nixon did,impose price controls.Of course economist have made that a bad word here for decades and even blamed Nixon for the hyper inflation that followed.The truth is however that his policy was a success,but our lying moneterist corporate economist are all bought by corporations and live in a pro corporate bubble.

[@rutessian]

Did you also read about the shortages caused by those price controls? You should read further about Paul Volcker, some people who don't know economics vilify him, those who do say he's a hero of sorts who dared to do what needed to be done. Unfortunately Jerome Powell isn't Paul Volcker..

[@drbassface]

Greedflation, and nobody is doing anything about it. Nobody will. Talking about it over and over, like peeing in the wind. Doesn’t do anything. So, how does it change? That’s the point.

[@lailaplaysdbd4004]

Yeah I agree.

[@WurmD]

Yup

[@blaze9525]

The problem does in part tie back to social programs though, and that’s worth understanding. The reality of market “elasticity” is companies are designed to steal as possible. American capitalism historically was setup for (originally racial and gender based) rule by financial elites. The whole *real* purpose of our economy is to *establish an exploited class that serves wealthy people while making just enough to survive*. Trying to rise people out of exploitation inside of American capitalism will inevitably result in capitalists increasing their exploitation to compensate. THIS is what elasticity actually means, and it’s why capitalism itself is the problem. The programs that established a WHITE MALE middle class partially in the 50s and 60s were both resisting capitalism and existing within racial and gender based economic hierarchies of labor. Let’s also not forget that today we still depend on a neo-colonial racist labor exploitation internationally in our global economy. Modern western capitalism (US, UK, France, etc.) depends on things like coups to establish puppet governments in the Middle East, Africa, parts of Asia, and South America for resource extraction by western companies that are “given” resources leases for little or no cost.

[@blaze9525]

Sorry for minor typos

[@ronblauvelt7457]

Inflation is caused by government borrowing money… government than points the finger at corporations instead of telling the truth and accepting responsibility

[@EvanPiercy]

This is great work.

[@JusticeAlways]

Lack of real competition in markets. Inflation.

[@frankisawesomee]

What’s the point of the ultra rich profiting even more when it’s the majority of people whom do the work and whom suffers the most to make the world spin. The average Joe and Mary needs money in there pocket to plan for retirement not to stuff the retirement plans of the rich whom are already rich to begin with. Poverty is manmade :(

[@user7966]

divert your eyes always away from corporations

[@phillipmichael3956]

Yes prices are up, inflation is up, demand is up but is supply an production up?

[@robertstoddard3626]

No!

[@sdrc92126]

The really greedy people would undercut the marginally greedy on prices and put them out of business. In a functional system, the cure for high prices is high prices