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Unregulated capitalism...
This is the natural result of that.
COVID factored in because the handful of corporations that own a shit ton of companies figured out 8% inflation could be used as justification to double/triple prices, and if they all did it, consumers had no options.
In regulated capitalism, the government would step in to prevent this type of price fixing.
But when both political parties are "pro business" and take donations from those huge corporations...
Then corporations get away with lots they shouldn't
like this?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/23/us/yale-columbia-price-fixing-settlement.html
https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/drivers-sue-us-shale-oil-producers-over-alleged-price-fixing-scheme-2024-01-16/
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/19/rice-university-price-fixing-lawsuit/
https://www.propublica.org/article/doj-backs-tenants-price-fixing-case-big-landlords-real-estate-tech
https://apnews.com/article/egg-producers-price-gouging-lawsuit-conspiracy-8cd455003a3a40bab74d0f046d0f2c9d
https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/frances-saint-gobain-others-hit-with-price-fixing-claims-us-court-2023-11-30/
The US has this bizarre setup where we "regulate" companies through the courts rather than directly through government agencies (this is not always the case, but it often is). The problem is that even when this "works", i.e., the court punishes the company, they get a fine. So it becomes a financial decision: if we can get away with this, does that outweigh the risk that we might not? Sometimes it ends up profiting the company regardless.
Related to this is that prosecutors have total discretion in the realm of plea deals. If you do a crime here, it becomes a negotiation with the prosecutor. What can you offer them to get off the hook? Sometimes it makes sense to do a crime, because the advantages you gain become leverage to negotiate your way out of punishment.
I'm afraid that I don't understand what sort of alternative system you have in mind.
Basically do what Europe does. Government regulators actively monitor companies and stop them from misbehaving, rather than waiting for them to misbehave and then sue them. If they don't follow regulations they get disbanded. It's not perfect but it's better than what we have here.
I believe that already happens here in certain fields like nuclear energy and slaughterhouses
Company makes a billion dollars and then it's fined 200 million, ten years later because a private citizen sues them...
Is this government regulation?
You're a meme. And by that I mean, you're a joke.
Thank you for contributing to the discussion.
I looked at some of those, and it's private citizens suing corporations...
Even the rent one with the DOJ, it's just them becoming involved in private lawsuits...
That's not the same as the government regulating capitalism.
And while that one is sort of related to the topic, not really. It's because the price fixing is automated by a computer program a bunch of landlords used.
In the future if you only give one link and some kind of explanation other than "like this?" The person you replied to can probably do a better job of helping you understand.
This is like saying that Texas doesn't regulate abortion because it's just private citizens filing lawsuits. That is bullshit.
Without the regulations, there would be no legal basis for filing a lawsuit.