Too much of a good thing: Profits are too high. America needs a giant dose of competition

So you are saying that supply and demand does set price, but the use of your terms “greedy” and “more than they need” seems to imply they should be charging less. Am I correct?

So again, if the supply / demand price is not what they should charge, what should they charge?

I don’t have the exact numbers but I’m pretty sure a big chunk of the recent extra profits is due to energy company profits based upon higher energy prices. Energy prices are set by world markets. Are you saying in spite of this, energy companies should charge less than world market prices because they are making too much money?

 

Let’s try this as a comparison:

“Greedy homeowners are selling their houses for more than they need and capital gains on sale are causing house prices to rise.”

That seems obviously nonsensical, but is the exact same as what has been asserted elsewhere in this thread.

 

Well it's funny that you bring up real estate, because one of the reasons rents are going up is that so many corporations are buying houses and renting them out. They'll have more market power and be able to set higher rents than if all the houses were owned by different individuals. Their market power would be a cause of inflation for housing.

Why the Road Is Getting Even Rockier for First-Time Home Buyers