What if we simply stopped spending? Let’s vote with our wallets.
With all the price inflation going on, the one thing consumers have control over on the supply-and-demand seesaw is our spending. Prices too high - I don’t like it - therefore I am not buying (looking at you, McDonald’s). If enough of us do that, then the proprietors will have no choice but to lower prices. At least that’s what I was taught in economics 200.
Of course, people are still happily(?) buying. That’s why we have not seen a reduction in prices. The entrepreneur wouldn’t lower them if current pricing is sustainable in terms of customer count. Any savings in production cost should be pocketed as increased profit margin. It’s not greed, it’s math. People aren’t running charities. When high prices actively hurt the bottom line, only then will they go down.
Nearly half of Americans cannot cover a $1,000 emergency, and consumer credit card debt is at record highs. That tells me that lots of people are recklessly spending money well into the red, seemingly undeterred by inflation. Please don’t give me the bullshit about folks being poor and unable to afford necessities - thereby going into debt: my parents made less than $2,000 a month for a household of four for the longest time, and yet they still managed to save money over the years.
Overspending is the problem. During the pandemic, when supply chains were impacted, new vehicle inventories were low. A classic supply and demand problem: low inventory, high transaction prices. Because the American appetite for cars is insatiable. I never got mad at dealer markups, because they exist precisely because someone out there is willing to pay. If absolutely nobody was willing to pay, then the markups wouldn’t exist.
It only takes one. And it only takes consumers continually spending for the current high prices to remain. That’s not going to be me, though. I am hugely price elastic. Printed books have increased in price, so now I begrudgingly buy the digital Kindle version.
I choose you.