Photo above – Janet Yellen blames "lack of competition" for the lack of affordable homes. I blame scenes like this.
Is Janet Yellen too old and senile to be Secretary of the Treasury? She’s going to be 78 in a few weeks. She’s right up there with Biden, Trump, House Leader Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, Senate leader Chuck Shumer, Fed Chaiman Jerome Powell, and nearly half the supreme court. We are ruled by a gerontocracy of politicians-for-life who constantly smirk as they tell us "Don’t worry, be happy".
Yellen’s contribution to the debate came during her appearance on Squawk Box this week. She said that yes, inflation is a problem, but that “lack of competition” was the cause. NOT the fact that the government is spending twice what it collects in taxes, and has amassed $34 trillion in federal debt (that’s $100,000 for every man woman and child in America). See link below.
This “no competition” claim is both hilarious and scary. When pressed for examples, Yellen came up with bread and milk, which are up 30% since inauguration day. Wait . . . what? There’s a giant conglomerate controlling bread and milk? Not evident at the grocery store where I shop. There are about 200 companies represented on the bread aisle. Has Janet actually ever been in a supermarket since she turned 70? Or do her caregivers do that sort of stuff for her now?
Okay, so Janet's claim about bread and milk is complete BS. How about gasoline? There are more than two dozen oil refinery companies in the US. And then there’s Shell (the Netherlands), BP (the UK), and a bunch of other international players. This looks like LOTS of US competition, compared to Russia, China, Brazil, Mexico, the UK, etc. And energy prices are a huge source of American inflation.
Okay, maybe Janet can explain how “lack of competition” has created 40% housing inflation since inauguration day? Presumably there’s some ginormous construction company called “General Homes, Inc." which is secretly pulling the strings? I have a different take: high home prices are the result of cities, counties, and states adding layer upon layer of zoning restrictions which put both new construction and urban renewal on the slow road to nowhere. If you drive through any major city – New York, LA, or rust belt hellholes like Chicago, Cleveland, and Milwaukee, you see block after block of abandoned shells that probably should be bulldozed under “eminent domain” for new, decent construction. It isn’t “lack of competition” that preventing this. It’s elected officials and bureaucrats.
Yes, Ms. Yellen. I WOULD like to see more competition in America. Let’s start by replacing all our octogenarian lawgivers with a new generation who is in touch with how we live. I've had enough of millionaire politicians old enough to be my great grandmother or grandfather.
I’m just sayin’ . . .
https://old.reddit.com/r/economy/comments/1dh45ed/janet_yellen_blames_lack_of_competition_for/
by baltimore-aureole
8 comments
Everyone is old, and out of touch!
Oh you mean all that competition that government closed down with covid measures all over the world. So that only companies that were to big to fail and needed government to hold them up were alowed to be in business
More dem excuses lol.
This post is a fairly stupid take on the issue. It’s a fact that in almost all markets competition is shrinking, and concentration is growing. This leads to excessive market power
Here is the quote:
“YELLEN: Well, I’m going to say exactly the same thing. I think that inflation is about supply and demand and clearly a significant part of the inflation we had to burst after the pandemic, during the pandemic reflected supply constraints and stresses on supply chains. And also, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to a leap in energy prices and impacted food prices globally. That said, there are many sectors of the economy where competition is limited and price cost margins are high. And it is you could call that corporate greed. There are high markups. The level of markups is high.”
That’s a perfectly reasonable response. Bread comes up a few questions later in an unrelated question about why people think we are in a recession. She never says there is a lack of competition in bread.
The article also complains that housing isn’t expensive because lack of competition, but then goes on to say that the reason housing is expensive is because there isn’t enough of it (also know as lack of competition).
Terrible article.
What is hilarious is bumkin amateurs on social media who think they know more than one of the expert people in the field. Priceless.
Maybe the government shouldn’t rubber stamp every merger that crosses their desk
Yes the same person who claimed inflation won’t happen and pumping all the free money won’t have any impact , then it was transitory, then how we have won the battle with inflation a year ago, and now this..