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Posted

Grocery stores are the ultimate in shady deals...

 

where you put the item on display for bribes

 

cutting the price by deal store by store

 

cutting the price of "generic" brands to grossly tarnish brand names

 

fake "on sale stickers" to induce people impulse buying when the price was the same as last week.

 

THE WORST OF THE WORST THOUGH... is that prices are much higher in stores where seniors or the poor as customers are trapped, no car or ready transit to move around and compare.

 

My favourite war-story was one economics prof hired 60 varsity football players and paid them $100 simply to walk into a major department store and with clipboard in hand start writing down the price displayed on up to 200 large ticket items. They continued this until they were escorted out peacefully by security or the police. He had great findings on a large US city ripping off the poorer people.

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Posted

Grocery stores are the ultimate in shady deals...

 

where you put the item on display for bribes

 

cutting the price by deal store by store

 

cutting the price of "generic" brands to grossly tarnish brand names

 

fake "on sale stickers" to induce people impulse buying when the price was the same as last week.

 

THE WORST OF THE WORST THOUGH... is that prices are much higher in stores where seniors or the poor as customers are trapped, no car or ready transit to move around and compare.

 

My favourite war-story was one economics prof hired 60 varsity football players and paid them $100 simply to walk into a major department store and with clipboard in hand start writing down the price displayed on up to 200 large ticket items. They continued this until they were escorted out peacefully by security or the police. He had great findings on a large US city ripping off the poorer people.

Being commie would solve all of this

Posted

Being commie would solve all of this

 

I like the concept of a loyal and vocal opposition when enough is enough against those without a voice.

 

God forbid they ever get into power, and they sometimes do...

Posted

 

I like the concept of a loyal and vocal opposition when enough is enough against those without a voice.

 

God forbid they ever get into power, and they sometimes do...

 

 

What are you talking about?

Posted

 

 

What are you talking about?

 

responding to your completely brainless comment on commies solving it all?

 

is that clear enough?

Posted

Yes, you did. Explain how the government is setting prices in this instance.

It's not, it's telling businesses how they can't set prices. Fool

Posted

It's not, it's telling businesses how they can't set prices. Fool

 

Sometimes the government steps in, during war years individuals like Gailbraith and Keynes literally set the prices for bacon or gasoline every day for their countries.

 

Usually we like the market to dictate, but the market sometimes needs help if conspiracies are getting in the way.

Posted

 

Sometimes the government steps in, during war years individuals like Gailbraith and Keynes literally set the prices for bacon or gasoline every day for their countries.

 

Usually we like the market to dictate, but the market sometimes needs help if conspiracies are getting in the way.

And market forces can be destructive. They set the price of milk, right? If not, there would be a boom and bust cycle there.

Posted

 

 

I'm not speaking of a desired outcome but what I believe will end up happening. I don't know what the timeline will be but I don't believe it is unreasonable to believe that within 30 years you will have well over half of the population that either are not employed or doing basic menial tasks due to increased automation, robotics and general advances in technology.

 

That the vast majority of revenues collected by the government will come via corporations. That there will be an increased role from government in assisting humans through various means of subsidization.

 

I could be way off but this is what I believe is in the cards.

 

I think we're actually further along on this than anyone cares to admit.

 

Yes, the world needs ditch-diggers, but the problem here is not just the technology, but the apathy of the young. The industry in which I live is desperate for young talent, but pretty much the entire industry has come to realize that those being interviewed at entry level have a horrible misconception of what an entry level salary and benefits should look like. They show no desire to work their way up, and would rather not work than compromise their false perceptions.

 

We as a country give them, then, what they need to stand pat, and here comes your pathway to large segments of the country who find it easier to live off the government handouts than make a self-accountable path for themselves however necessary.

Posted (edited)

And market forces can be destructive. They set the price of milk, right? If not, there would be a boom and bust cycle there.

 

I marked papers for intro accounting courses through the years and a routine question was give a really good example of an inelastic product (where no matter the price there is no hemming and hawing about buying it...)

 

Somehow most responded with milk (maybe that was in the textbook) but I was thinking more along the line of insulin. Sarcastic response would be cigarettes apparently.

 

Milk is out there on the market, a mashing together of the free market and quotas set by farm and government boards, with subsidies and other stuff crammed in. Chocolate milk seems to be on a slash-price rampage where I shop the last month or so though...

 

I simply wouldn't buy milk if it tripled in price per gallon on me one day.

 

I think we're actually further along on this than anyone cares to admit.

 

Yes, the world needs ditch-diggers, but the problem here is not just the technology, but the apathy of the young. The industry in which I live is desperate for young talent, but pretty much the entire industry has come to realize that those being interviewed at entry level have a horrible misconception of what an entry level salary and benefits should look like. They show no desire to work their way up, and would rather not work than compromise their false perceptions.

 

We as a country give them, then, what they need to stand pat, and here comes your pathway to large segments of the country who find it easier to live off the government handouts than make a self-accountable path for themselves however necessary.

 

You have to give some leeway for kids until they are in their mid-20s, always have and always will.

 

Most snap out of it, it's been a dire concern since around 1770 in the US about the next generation.

 

They will be fine.

Edited by row_33
Posted

 

My favourite war-story was one economics prof hired 60 varsity football players and paid them $100 simply to walk into a major department store and with clipboard in hand start writing down the price displayed on up to 200 large ticket items. They continued this until they were escorted out peacefully by security or the police. He had great findings on a large US city ripping off the poorer people.

 

Would these large cities also be the ones who vehemently oppose Wal-Marts & Targets opening up within city limits?

Posted

 

Would these large cities also be the ones who vehemently oppose Wal-Marts & Targets opening up within city limits?

 

Same as it ever was.

 

Probably worse now for the old and poor without the internet to help them compare and shop around.

 

In the financial district in Toronto, the business supply shops are charging a premium compared to stores in the suburbs. They figure nobody cares since it just goes to a corporate credit card? Same with restaurants assuming that 90% of meals will just be put on the corporate card, so hike it up!

Posted

My favourite war-story was one economics prof hired 60 varsity football players and paid them $100 simply to walk into a major department store and with clipboard in hand start writing down the price displayed on up to 200 large ticket items. They continued this until they were escorted out peacefully by security or the police. He had great findings on a large US city ripping off the poorer people.

 

How much of that is the stores jacking up prices, and how much of that is them passing on the cost of doing business imposed on them by the city? I know DC has some ridiculous tax practices (based on the principle of "nobody lives here, everybody just commutes for work") that makes shopping in DC ridiculously expensive.

 

But even in the suburbs, it's expensive. I can drive 100 miles out of my way to Harrisonburg, VA, and spend $70 on groceries that would easily cost me north of $200 locally.

Posted

 

Same as it ever was.

 

Probably worse now for the old and poor without the internet to help them compare and shop around.

 

In the financial district in Toronto, the business supply shops are charging a premium compared to stores in the suburbs. They figure nobody cares since it just goes to a corporate credit card? Same with restaurants assuming that 90% of meals will just be put on the corporate card, so hike it up!

 

What Tom said, plus, is the psf rent in downtown TO the same as it is in an Oakville shopping center? Cost of labor? How easy is it for a delivery truck to make its rounds in the city vs suburbs? How many items can the TO store stock vs a suburban store?

Posted

What Tom said, plus, is the psf rent in downtown TO the same as it is in an Oakville shopping center? Cost of labor? How easy is it for a delivery truck to make its rounds in the city vs suburbs? How many items can the TO store stock vs a suburban store?

I opened this thread up to post this very thing. It's been awhile since I looked at rents in NYC but Manhattan retail rents a number of years ago could top $150 s/f for those bowling alley shaped t-shirt shop spaces. At 1500 s/f that's $225,000 annual base rent. That same space could typically be found in a strip in the suburbs of Buffalo or Cleveland for $10,000-$12,000. I can remember paying $10 for a draught beer in a !@#$ing TGI Fridays in downtown Manhattan while that same beer would cost $2 in a typical suburban bar in WNY. Locations have consequences.

Posted

 

How much of that is the stores jacking up prices, and how much of that is them passing on the cost of doing business imposed on them by the city? I know DC has some ridiculous tax practices (based on the principle of "nobody lives here, everybody just commutes for work") that makes shopping in DC ridiculously expensive.

 

But even in the suburbs, it's expensive. I can drive 100 miles out of my way to Harrisonburg, VA, and spend $70 on groceries that would easily cost me north of $200 locally.

 

Good points.

 

Mobility and basic planning and patience can save a lot of money.

I opened this thread up to post this very thing. It's been awhile since I looked at rents in NYC but Manhattan retail rents a number of years ago could top $150 s/f for those bowling alley shaped t-shirt shop spaces. At 1500 s/f that's $225,000 annual base rent. That same space could typically be found in a strip in the suburbs of Buffalo or Cleveland for $10,000-$12,000. I can remember paying $10 for a draught beer in a !@#$ing TGI Fridays in downtown Manhattan while that same beer would cost $2 in a typical suburban bar in WNY. Locations have consequences.

 

But it's the same brand name store with allegedly the same prices and online information.

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