Those of us who haven't been sold on the party line, or who don't need it to justify our own life choices or ideological commitments, don't have any trouble at at all seeing through the whole vulgar farce.

Companies can minutely control prices, quantities, profits, sales, supply and demand, to find the sweet spot. They also have the ability to monitor markets and feedback that information to their production and distributing and pricing organs. The buyer doesn't have access to all those resources, and is limited in his ability to communicate with other consumers and coordinate his purchasing with his fellow victims. He doesn't have a bloody chance.

For example, if production costs go up and a rise in prices threatens to downgrade profits because of reduced demand, the producer has the option of altering the packaging of a product so the cost per unit remains the same but the cost per pound goes up. And if you spend much time at the supermarket, you'll see that "competing" companies do this simultaneously. They may not be colluding to fix prices, but the result is just the same. They have all been making the same calculation, so they wind up acting together. So the price of a loaf of bread remains the same, but the loaves are smaller. And all the brands are doing it. The average consumer may not realize this is happening, and he certainly can't communicate with his fellows even if he does, Meanwhile, the cost of retooling the factory to make smaller loaves (that have to be purchased more often) is passed on to the consumer.

The same processes occur when companies purchase commodities from one another, but they have procurement departments and research divisions and other resources to scour markets for good prices, and they purchase in bulk and sign long term contracts so they are able to influence sellers more effectively to lower their prices. When a steel foundry purchases coke then the Law of Supply and Demand is much more likely to be operating effectively due to something akin to economies of scale. The price of bread may be going up, but the farmer gets less and less for his grain every day. He gets more productive but he is still going into debt. Where is all that money going? But in consumer sales, the consumer gets screwed. That's why the American economy is all about marketing to consumers than it is about making things. Its easier to make a profit.

Of course, the producers can honestly tell themselves they are not manipulating or exploiting or even cheating their customers, they are just "responding automatically to the laws of economics". Sheeeiiit.

And the consumers can always be persuaded the ripoff is all Biden's and his commie friends' fault.

Its all Marketing 101. You can actually get a PhD in this. At hundreds of universities all over the country. Talk about marketing...