Friday, November 27, 2009

Opinion

Gas Prices Drop, but Food Prices Remain High. Why?

December 02, 2008 12:30 PM ET | Bonnie Erbe | Permanent Link | Print

Reader Comments

They Will Not Let You Save

Today I saw a can of Tuna at Wal-Mart for 1.00, last summer same can of tuna cost 50 cents. Here is the deal groceries cannot possibly cost 100% more today than they did only 12 months ago unless the prices are being manipulated and fixxed. Of course they want you to believe that the gas prices are not fixxed, but think about it. Here recently gas rose to 5$ a gallon, then fell and fell and fell. The reason for the fall ??? We were told it was reduced demand due to the economic downturn. I dont know about the streets you drive on, but I see the same amounts of cars on the streets everyday. Traffic is still backed up beyond belief. There is no way no believable explanation why gas can fall 300% on reduced demand without there actually being a 300% reduction in demand, Ive been counting cars, still the same amount on the roads. And if demand has fallen so much then why in the Month of Jan 2009, when the unemployment numbers came in as record highs, why did gas rise over 40% ??? Its all corporate price fixxing, you cant control the price you pay but someone can.

Could it be they have no incentive to lower prices? We should stop buying anything but bare necessities for a while. We are not dealing with ethical business people any longer. If we ever were. Greed rules in America, as well as corruption, deceit and decadence. This is what you get when you replace the Living God with Idols and false gods. The fault starts with me and you .

Food price

Food and gas price both down now. why? is it because of state subsidy to the farmers like U.S.A? Or ethanol production from food crop down due to fall in gas price?

check out the profits

I suggest you look over the profits from the companies who are actually setting the wholesale prices.

Excerpt from the NBB:

"The National Farmers Union recently reported that despite a drop in the price of a bushel

of wheat from $19 to $7.63 since February, the cost of a loaf of bread has inexplicably

increased over that same period. And the farmer’s share of that $2.99 loaf of bread?

About 12 cents"

Meanwhile, the average American has been forced to chip in to help Kraft Foods more

than double its profits by posting net earnings of $1.4 billion in the third quarter of this

year. What about that cereal you had this morning? Kellogg’s announced third-quarter

earnings rose 12% to $342 million."

When there is such a difference in the loos from the consumer and the profits of the supplier, there is extreme price gouging.

food cost

Fertilizer is petroleum-based. Please explain, I must have missed fertilizer 101.

Bonnie where are you getting your info ??

No brainer

The food was produced, transported, processed, etc. while the gas prices were inflated outrageously.

Oil companies can manipulate prices overnight, but consumers cannot back adjust prices.

On the other hand, if food wasn't so cheap, maybe so many of us (myself included) wouldn't be overweight.

Suppliers and stores HATE to make price increases alone. They do it in herd mentality when others give them permission by doing likewise---usually with an excuse, such as higher fuel, grain, etc.

When they do it, they PAD in a little extra and coast a while, unless and until extreme competition forces them back down. You have now seen a round of the former, and none (yet) of the latter.

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About Bonnie Erbe

Bonnie Erbe is a contributing editor at U.S. News & World Report and hosts PBS's weekly news analysis program, To the Contrary with Bonnie Erbe. She also writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column for Scripps Howard News Service.

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