Kamala's accusation that the high cost of living is caused by corporate price gouging
Very simply, if operating costs go up, retail prices go up. If production costs rise, then the makers of a product must raise the wholesale price.
Now, two days before Trump left office, in January of 2021, the price of a barrel of Brent Crude Oil was exactly $54.75. Under Joe Biden & Kamala Harris, the price of Brent Crude sky-rocketed to $114 to $117 (unadjusted) mid-2022. This should be enough to explain the cause of the rise in prices, during the Biden-Harris years. But, there is more included here, at least in link form. Firstly, see: https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?op=1
Below: Look and see how Oil Futures and the eventual retail price parallel each other. Kamala and Tim were apparently not taught this, by their campaign staff. By the way, you may come across WTI, in reading about oil futures. WTI means West Texas Intermediate. 
If price gouging is the corporate way, and if Donald Trump is all buddy buddy with corporations, then why were there no notable price rises during the Trump years ... before COVID and the rise in construction material?
The Years 2017, 2018, and 2019 were solid years for the economy. No ridiculous price hikes occurred then, as they occurred under Biden & Harris. No transportation hindrances then, as there were under Biden & Harris. No shortages then, either. Even during the Covid months, when hoarding began, the price rise of construction material ... especially lumber ... was not ridiculously high at first.
There's More, being the this subject is extremely involved
Now, the huge factor that Tim Walz and Kamala overlooked, concerning the outrageously high price of gasoline, in the middle of 2022, was none other than =====> The Ukrainian War. At that time, the average price for a gallon of gas in the United States was $5.03. Brent Crude was $114.67 (unadjusted & without the Log Scale which makes every chart look like the Mercator Map which makes Greenland look much bigger than it is.)
Even though Brent reached $114 under Biden & Kamala, Brent Crude was as high as $140 per barrel, in 2008, under Bush & Cheney. And that is a decisive reason why Obama got elected over John McCain. In that year, any Democrat would have won, and any republican candidate would have lost.
The bottom line here is that gasoline retail price follows the Brent Crude futures price. Any retail price of any kind of product follows the futures market. Now, the margins of oil companies get intrinsic, such that a con artists presenting oil company cost finances, costs, and profits can easily present the subject in a false light. This includes pro-oil people and anti-oil-company people.
If I get the time, I'll do a discourse on it, like I did for Put & Call Option, the process of buying short, and the process of buying long, etc. But, I really don't have the luxury of time as much as I need for detailing the workings of the oil profit subject.
For now, here's the history on Brent Crude futures prices. When you can, always use Brent Crude SPOT prices. That's the current, on-the-spot, price. If you use Brent Futures, it's a matter of opinion of you want to use adjusted or unadjusted prices. But, you must be consistent when using one or the other. You don't mix apples and oranges. You don't mixed adjusted and unadjusted prices.
 |
| Now remember, Brent Crude prices were higher under Bush-Cheney ... and and and ... the Constitutional professor from Illinois, Barack Obama. But, it also significantly dropped under Obama twice. |
This oil profit subject always depends on the era, as in the 1980s vs the Turn of the Millennium vs the Bush/Cheney years vs the Trump years. Ironically, during the Covid months and throughout the Trump Years, the price of Brent Crude was very low. None the less, at times the oil companies were known to act unconscionably.
In fact, Pres Jimmy Carter wanted the oil companies to pay the Windfall Profits Tax, in the late 1970s. As a result of the oil company reputation for charging more than was moral, Kamala and crew decided to blame the Biden Administration price hikes on price gouging.
It would have effectively deceived people untrained in Economics, except for the fact that Kamala brought the Grocery Industry into the list of price-gouging criminal industries. Well, everyone knows how small the grocery industry profit margin is. According to the Food Industry Association, grocery store profit margins are no more than 1.6%. That's One point Six. That's not even 2%.
Kamala should have stuck to damning the oil companies only. But of course, Kamala is a moronic con artist who has no idea what she's talking about. She takes shots in the dark, by spewing some words that might sound intelligent to people unversed in Econ. When it comes to Economics, Kamala is as brain dead as Joe Biden.
Now, the products sold in grocery stores is a different story than the small profit margin of grocery retail outlets, and it can be a bit fascinating to follow the profit margins of the various categories of products. It's important to view the various profit margin today, because Tim Walz said that corporate profit margins have been 111% and numbers similar. This would win over gullible people. But, it would trigger others into fact-checking.
The grocery store products are member of the CPG Industry ... the consumer packed goods industry. This includes PepsiCo, Unilever, Mondelez (coffee & confections), Kraft Heinz, Kimberly-Clark (the paper-based people) etc. Now, when gauging profit, there is the matter of Year-over-Year. That's a way to measure growth. When you sell a seasonable product, then month-over-month comes into play. In addition, be it a seasonable product or not, there is the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. They report "cost of sales," "net sales," "operating income" and "operating expenses." If you leave number out, and you're a con artist political campaign, you can end up blaming all of your economic incompetence on corporations.
If you are curious as to the year-on-year change of revenue, along with the revenue of certain corporations and industries, click on the link below. I did NOT see any who made a 111% profit. If you want to realize how much of a con artist is Tim Walz ... and also Clueless Kamala ... take a look at it.
https://consumergoods.com/top-100-consumer-goods-companies-2023
Concerning Kamala's promise to ban grocery store price gouging ... in an alternate universe, perhaps ... the average profit margin of grocery stores, according to the Food Industry Association, is no more than 1.6%. That's One point Six. That's not even 2%. Kamala again proves herself to be an idiot and/or moron and/or imbecile and/or sneaky buffoon, when it comes to Economics and other decisive subjects.
Being that people still exist who believe CNN to be the center of news-gathering, a CNN article on the Harris/Walz accusations is posted directly below:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/20/economy/inflation-kamala-harris-corporate-greed/index.html
The lesson here is that Kamala & Tim ... and Cuban ... and other campaign managers ... don't even know how to lie right ... to lie effectively and not get caught, eventually. None the less, when the 3:00 AM emergency call comes into the White House, being a clever liar will NOT save the day. Quick reflex action will. Instant Comprehension will.
BTW, Tim Walz is a worse liar than Kamala. And why? It's because Tim Walz is smarter and more articulate than Kamala. So, he uses his gifts from God to lie to the People. Concerning this, remember: Your talents are God's gift to you. What you do with those talents is your gift to God ... or it's your refusal to give any gift to God.
 |
| Milwaukee ... as in Wisconsin ... as in Battleground State, in need of truth, to make a good decision. That which is so ironic is that California is an embattled state. But, it's not a battle ground state. Well, if you are about to crash head-on, don't you think that it's time to change your driver? |
