Free Republic

During an interview with CBS’s “The Takeout” podcast that took place before the release of the February inflation numbers, acting Labor Secretary Julie Su said that there is price gouging and “One reason for inflation is that companies are taking advantage of market forces or just charging more in a way that increases their profit, but has nothing to do with worker’s wages.”

On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Money Movers,” White House National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard reacted to the January CPI inflation report by stating that there are probably “some anomalies in today’s report” and that overall data on the economy is good. She also argued that grocery corporations are gouging. Brainard said, “You know what, I always look at the data picture. I don’t overly weight one data point. And the overall picture looks good. Growth above 3, unemployment below 4, and inflation down by two-thirds, now, of course, we want to keep working to lower costs for the American...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) claimed victory Tuesday over oil companies with the signing of a law that caps their profits and punishes price gouging — though there is little evidence they are engaged in the practice. California gas prices are usually the highest in the nation, a fact that became painfully clear during nationwide price surges last summer. But as been widely documented, including by the New York Times, that has to do with state taxes and with climate change regulations. One oil company CEO responded last year to claims of price gouging by noting that California has a...

California lawmakers voted on Thursday to advance a bill that would penalize oil companies for “price gouging” — a first-of-its-kind legislation pushed forward in recent months by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). The SBX1-2 bill, sponsored by state Sen. Nancy Skinner (D), received the approval of the California State Senate in an Extraordinary Session convened to fast-track the legislation on Thursday morning. The bill could head to the State Assembly as early as Monday and receive the governor’s signature shortly after that, a source familiar with the matter told The Hill. Newsom commended the state Senate’s “quick action” following the vote,...

The House voted Thursday to pass Democrats’ bill aimed at combating “price gouging” on gasoline. The bill passed 217-207, with no Republicans voting for it and four Democrats voting against it: Reps. Stephanie Murphy (Fla.), Lizzie Fletcher (Texas), Kathleen Rice (N.Y.) and Jared Golden (Maine).

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey recently announced a number of new measures to rein in pricing at airports after a traveler saw beer being sold at LaGuardia Airport for $28 last year. Authorities said the Aviation Department has “significantly enhanced” compliance with the fair market pricing policy for goods sold in airport concessionaires. This means that no item should be sold above local “street prices” with a 10% maximum surcharge. The policy also requires vendors to offer lower-priced options. The most popular craft brewery in every state, according to Yelp Revisions to the Concessionaire Street Pricing...

On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “MTP Daily,” Senate Majority Whip Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) stated that “we’re dealing with a transitional economy, coming from a shutdown economy under COVID-19, reemerging, creation of jobs at record levels, but with it, comes the fires of inflation.” And there’s also “a lot” of price gouging. Durbin stated that poor poll numbers for Democrats reflect “history’s reality that off-year elections are not kind to the president’s party. That’s the starting point. Secondly, we’re dealing with a transitional economy, coming from a shutdown economy under COVID-19, reemerging, creation of jobs at record levels, but with...

Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) blamed oil companies for record-high gas prices across the United States. Schakowsky argued that “Americans are suffering right now at the pump” due to oil companies raising their prices during the war in Ukraine. She also asserted the companies could be producing more oil than they currently are.

BREITBART On Friday’s broadcast of ABC’s “GMA3,” economist, Harvard Professor, Director of the National Economic Council under President Barack Obama, and Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton Larry Summers called on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates and signal that further interest rate increases are coming and argued that the Federal Reserve can’t blame inflation on the coronavirus pandemic or the war in Ukraine, and the Biden administration can’t blame corporate greed for inflation because, at its core, the issue is about “managing the level of demand in the economy.”

A New Jersey auto dealer is selling a new Ford Bronco for a staggering 43 percent above the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, as inflation reaches historic levels and auto inventory shortages wreak havoc on consumer wallets. “We are going to be like Cuba soon,” said one customer at All American Ford in Old Bridge, NJ. “No new cars and we’ll all be driving ’57 Chevys.” A New York City man expressed his truckin’ outrage on social media this week after he found a 2021 Ford Bronco at the Old Bridge dealer with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $34,855 being...

Newsom was right to balk at hand sanitizer for $400. Are other vendors hiking prices on other things?

The local Walmart has 5 quart bottles of Conventional Super Tech 10W-30 for $13.98 and Synthetic for $14.88. Regular quart bottles of all brands/grades are also at months ago prices. These are the same prices for which it has been selling for months. With the price of oil at around $22 a barrel, that is WAY too high for oil. Doesn't seem to be right with what is going on right now with the whole region in economic distress. Never did see Walmart as gouging, but on this item they are.

"Every American has a role to play in defending our Nation from this invisible, horrible enemy." President Donald J. Trump PREVENTING AND PUNISHING HOARDING AND FRAUD: President Trump is taking action to prevent the hoarding and price gouging of critical supplies needed to combat the coronavirus. President Trump is signing an Executive Order providing the authority to address, if necessary, hoarding that threatens the supply of necessary health and medical resources. This includes the action of hoarding unnecessary quantities of items for the purpose of selling them above the fair market value. This action is authorized under the Defense...

President Trump announced in a press conference Thursday that chloroquine phosphate -- a substance found in drugs used to treat malaria and severe arthritis -- was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test as a treatment for the coronavirus. That same substance, outside its pharmaceutical form, is used as an additive in aquariums to kill microscopic organisms that might harm fish and other aquatic animals. And, the prices for chloroquine phosphate have surged online in late February and early March, according to a study published Thursday, sparking fears that people may be ingesting the fish-tank additive in...

I've often said that being an economist must be one of the most frustrating professions. You spend your life fighting against economic fallacies, and as you're lying in the hospital about to expire, the reporter on TV talks about all the jobs some natural disaster is going to create. These days, the most dangerous economic error is the condemnation of "price gouging." Even in my own Facebook feed I found people up in arms about high prices in the wake of an emergency. Evidently many hundreds of complaints about the practice have been filed with the Houston authorities, with more...

What should be the reaction to price gouging for Harvey? I believe in the law of supply and demand, the more the need the higher the price. That being said, what I don't condone is those that create shortages by burying up the local stocks and then gouging the prices. But I do condone person X transporting needed supplies into affected area, and getting what he can for those supplies. In fact, I would encourage that. Have the monetary incentive to get the supplies to the area, do not expect Walmart to disrupt their profit margin by changing distribution methodology...

Starbucks earnings hit Wall Street's target in the latest quarter, but shares fell 3.5 percent in aftermarket trading on Thursday after the company posted its lowest same-store sales growth since 2009...

<p>More than 400 possible cases of price gouging of gasoline and other essentials, including a $10 box of matches and $7 loaf of bread, have been reported in New York before and after Sandy.</p> <p>Reports are being investigated in New York City, the Hudson Valley and on Long Island by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.</p>

In New Jersey there is a shortage of open gasoline stations not because of the supply of gas but due to lack electricity at gas stations. This has caused long lines due to form miles long and lots of frustration. The media is reported thousands standing in line waiting to buy gasoline. So NJ Gov Chris Christie has just announced a form of gasoline rationing of odd and even buying days. At the same time he is prosecuting merchants for raising prices in response to the shortages; and I am sure this is very popular there: ' Procecute those greedy...

Senator Bernie Sanders added a new victim to the long list in his most recent column -- college students. Sanders complained that the Republican budget proposal would reduce the average Pell higher education grant by 17 percent at a time when the cost of a college education is "soaring." Having just sent the last of my three children off to college, I cannot argue with Sanders’ description of college tuition costs -- they are, indeed, soaring. Statistics confirm personal observation as, according to the Measuring Up 2008 report by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, tuition and...