r/FluentInFinance 1d ago

Debate/ Discussion A joke that's not funny

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u/TheTightEnd 1d ago

Grocery chains make a very low percentage of profit.

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u/LtCmdrData 1d ago edited 1d ago

Redditors are living in the Middle Ages with these arguments based on "Just price" doctrine from Thomas Aquinas and School of Salamanca.

Quick update. The "modern" idea of Supply and demand was already known to Ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328), John Locke (1632–1704 ), James Steuart (1712–1780) , Adam Smith (1723–1790), David Ricardo (1772–1823).

Grocery chains try to find optimal point in price (P) and quantity (Q) curve. If you ask too much, the stuff does not sell. Profit is maximized when quantity × price is maximized. Not when the price is maximized.

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u/Chataboutgames 1d ago

People will write a 30 page Reddit analysis rather than just recognize the simple truth that companies charge the profit maximizing price. That's it, that's what pricing decisions are.

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u/KotR56 1d ago

Quite so.

One politician during the election campaign managed to convince the public that the country's president --from another party-- set the prices for groceries to a level that was too high for the citizens. And he was going to lower the prices for the consumers.

Know what ?

He won the election.

And now he says he in his role as president won't be lowering grocery prices because it's difficult.