Republicans should be seriously embarrassed.
Mercy! Check This Out
Trump Truth Detail Link: I have asked the DOJ to immediately begin an investigation into the Meat Packing Companies who are driving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation. We will always protect our American Ranchers, and they are being blamed for what is being done by Majority Foreign Owned Meat Packers, who artificially inflate prices, and jeopardize the security of our Nation’s food supply. Action must be taken immediately to protect Consumers, combat Illegal Monopolies, and ensure these Corporations are not criminally profiting at the expense of the American People. I am asking the DOJ to act expeditiously. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
23,000 economic illiterates or seriously TWS inflicted persons like that post.
Who Does Trump Sound like?
- Joe Biden – November 17, 2021: In a Hypocritical Letter to the FTC, Biden Accuses Oil Companies of Illegal Price Gouging
- Nancy Pelosi – May 12, 2022: House Speaker Pelosi Seeks Price Controls and a Ban on ‘Excessive’ Gasoline Prices
- Bernie Sanders, AOC, and Trump – September 23, 2024: Trump Proposes a Cap on Credit Card Interest, So Do AOC and Bernie
- Kamala Harris – September 27, 2024: Ridiculous Answers from Harris and Trump Regarding Food Costs
- Elizabeth Warren – April 15, 2025: Trump’s FTC Head Talks Just Like Elizabeth Warren
The Ridiculous Grocery Gouging Discussion vs the One We Should Have
Please recall my August 26, 2024 post The Ridiculous Grocery Gouging Discussion vs the One We Should Have
The Harris campaign’s proposal, unveiled as part of her first big economic policy speech, has become a focal point for her presidential rival, Donald Trump, and fellow Republicans, who claim she’s pushing “communist price controls.”
While much in Harris’ price gouging plan remains vague, a central piece is simply a call for Congress to pass the first-ever federal ban on price gouging in the food and grocery sectors, which largely mirrors legislation reintroduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) earlier this year.
Trump now is leading the pack on price gouging investigations, something he once likened to “communist price controls.”
Food Costs Too Much
Next, please consider the Miami Herald September 22, 2024 article Donald Trump and Kamala Harris Both Say Food Costs Too Much.
Vice President Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has vowed to fight food price inflation partly by tackling what she calls grocery price gouging.
“As president, I will take on the high costs that matter most to most Americans, like the cost of food,” she told a rally in North Carolina recently. In her economic proposal, unveiled last month, she said she would “advance the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries.”
Trump blamed imports. Now he wants them.
And he called for price caps on interest, definitely in the “communist price controls” category.
A Perfect Response From Reagan
Flashback August 12, 1986: Ronald Reagan’s Press Conference
I think you all know that I’ve always felt the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help. A great many of the current problems on the farm were caused by government-imposed embargoes and inflation, not to mention government’s long history of conflicting and haphazard policies.
What Would Mish Do?
I would get out of the way. I would let farmers farm, and I would let grocery stores sell. And I would reduce regulations that place unnecessary burdens on farmers and stores.
Competition and reduced regulation are the best answer, not price absurd investigations of price gouging.
We need to be honest about what government can and can’t do. I would not make promises that I can’t keep. Harris, Biden, and Trump did.
Trump’s tariffs raised the cost of fertilizer. Trump’s immigration raids raised the cost of meat packing.
Trump wants US citizens to pack meat but demands prices not go up when labor costs go up.
Trump on the Price of Beef
Truth Social Link: The Cattle Ranchers, who I love, don’t understand that the only reason they are doing so well, for the first time in decades, is because I put Tariffs on cattle coming into the United States, including a 50% Tariff on Brazil. If it weren’t for me, they would be doing just as they’ve done for the past 20 years — Terrible! It would be nice if they would understand that, but they also have to get their prices down, because the consumer is a very big factor in my thinking, also!
Amusingly, his first answer to rising beef prices was to allow more imports from Argentina.
I approve of that. Indeed, Trump should scrap his asinine tariff policies across the board. But he won’t and the farmer backlash was immediate.
Trump in the Hot Seat and Biden-Like Denials
Please recall my November 1, 2025 Hoot of the Day: Trump Admits Beef Prices Are High Because of His Tariffs
Trump argues with cattlemen over the price of beef. Trump to Quadruple Argentine Beef Imports While US Ranchers Fume.
Facing anger from farmers, Trump amusingly and quickly resorted the Democrat standard playbook: Blame Price Gouging.
Also amusing, and very contradictory, like Biden, Trump insists there is no price inflation to begin with. Trump says there is “virtually no inflation”. Trump even declared victory.
Victors on Affordability
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported Trump Dismisses Affordability Concerns, Insists Prices Are Coming Down
“Our groceries are way down. Everything is way down. And the press doesn’t report it,” Trump said. “So, I don’t want to hear about the affordability. Because right now, we’re much less.”
Trump lashed out at reporters who pressed him on the cost of living. “We are much better than Biden,” he said. “We are the victors on affordability.”
The president called Democrats’ contention that affordability played a role in Tuesday’s election a “con job,” and he asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to help him make his case to reporters in the room.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.) said in a recent interview with CNN, “Affordability is a problem.”
“I go to the grocery store myself. Grocery prices remain high. Energy prices are high,” she said. “My electricity bills are higher here in Washington, D.C., at my apartment, and they’re also higher at my house in Rome, Ga.—higher than they were a year ago.”
Amazing Irony
We have the amazing irony of price gouging investigations at a time were there is no inflation.
This makes perfect sense in the MAGA universe where contradictions don’t exist.
Trump’s Reshoring Plans
Trump wants to reshore everything. The economic nitwits cheer. Are you one of them?
US has extremely large labor costs vs the rest of the world. Reshoring iPhone assembly, underwear manufacturing, auto parts, and aluminum production can only mean one thing – higher prices.
In case you did not understand that, let me repeat it: Reshoring iPhone assembly, underwear manufacturing, auto parts, and aluminum production can only mean one thing – higher prices.
The price of new apartment leases is falling in many places. That will help the CPI. However, few people are moving, so the benefit goes to few.
Five Key Stagflation Points
- Tariffs increase prices.
- Reshoring increases prices.
- Tariffs are greatly harming small businesses and will drive many out of business.
- AI is taking jobs.
- Obamacare sticker shock is coming.
Those are hugely stagflationary forces. Does anyone disagree?
The open question then is whether or not Trump’s failed policies will destroy enough demand (think recession), to counteract the underlying stagflation forces.
I don’t know. But I do know there is going to be sticker shock for 24 million who are on Obamacare plans.
I also know that Trump now sounds like Biden, Warren, AOC, and and Kamala Harris on price gouging. And the TWS cult cheers, incapable of seeing the irony.
Addendum
unless we see handcuffs, its all BS
Wish in one hand, spit in the other, see which one fills up first
But you don’t understand, Mish! Trump’s fascism is different from Biden’s. Really! Republicans understand, that’s why they’re silent.
“Trump’s immigration raids raised the cost of meat packing.”
Those workers were illegally in the country. Illegal immigration has driven up the cost of rent in L.A.
So you support high beef prices, as that is what the market has determined is reality, am I right?
I’m no libertarian like you Mish, but have always been a traditional conservative “free trader” and would like your thoughts on the causes of recent (from the tail end of the pandemic, through Biden, until now) inflation.
I was always one that believed it wasn’t because of the (rather miniscule) payments to citizens that helped them out while the economy was “shut down”, but, rather due to supply chain issues that caused supply to be limited, while demand was “kept up”.
Slowly but surely, those supply chains got better, but, prices never came down (deflation)
So, if one believes that the surge in inflation was caused by government largess (payments to citizens that they otherwise would not have had), and those payments have been long gone, why do we still have inflation?
On the other hand, if one believes it was because supply chains were hindered (worldwide) and have, over time, been “repaired”, why do we still have inflation?
Lastly, if one would have suggested that the government should have done nothing (no payments to help people get by during the pandemic and no artificially low interest rates inducing a large amount of people to overpay for homes because they could afford the payments), what would’ve been the expected outcome over the last four years?
Why do we still have inflation? Because the govt has been still flooding the country with borrowed money, currently 1.78 trillion deficit more that revenue. The fed also still has 2 trillion in mortgage backed securities, which is supporting more expensive housing prices, because if those mbs were to have to be absorbed by the free market, their yields would have to go higher to attract buyers, and that would push mortgage rates higher, which would help housing prices ease for them to be sold. Then you have many state laws giving tax breaks to homeowners, but this allows people to hold on instead of selling or keep spending. The tax breaks are deceiving people that the govt is helping them, when it was the govts massive rate repression money printing that caused house prices to explode. So the govt is supporting inflation in many ways. Libertarian is the only choice for what is needed to ease inflation: a balanced budget.
Meanwhile, Trump’s plan to address housing prices: 50 year mortgages!
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5597005-trump-administration-50-year-mortgage/
Pure insanity! Multi generational loans next?
Questions all Americans should be asking or have asked are:
Why did the banks get made whole on the defaulted/foreclosed loans/homes in the 2007-11 housing crisis?
Why were those same homes sold to insiders and corporate interests instead of the homeowners being made whole?
Re-worded: Why are the banks more important than the American citizens?
Come live in very your own debt prison
Reshoring? We travel a lot and costs are quite different for similar trips depending on where they embark. River cruises from the US are considerably more expensive than similar travel from other locations. American manufacturing quality is often very low and prices high.
Skiing at US resorts for six day passes is well over $1,000 and over $1200 at the top resorts. Top European areas are well under $100/day, under $400 for six day passes. It is CHEAPER to fly to Europe to ski for a week than Aspen, Park City, etc.
“Majority Foreign Owned Meat Packers, who artificially inflate prices, and jeopardize the security of our Nation’s food supply”
Animal flesh is not necessary for a safe and healthful diet.
Where in this thread did anyone make that claim? Enjoy your quinoa steaks
Smithfield food is owned by a Chinese co. Smithfield food produce chicks, meat and pork. Chinese co invested in Tyson food and JBS, a Brazilian co which produce chicks and pork. If u cut spending on Chinese chicks, pork and meat your healthcare cost will be lower.
Mish, narratives are always blurred between the two factions, right? There is a “rotation” of Narratives going on. Price inflation is a hot button now because one has to be brain dead to not notice that a good steak, from my local Grocery Store, can top $50.
Now, let’s run down the hot topics that NO ONE touches: 1) Insurance. Mandatory. 2) Property Taxes, Income taxes, taxes/taxes on taxes. 3) Justice System. 4) Lobbying (Bribery). I could go on and on and the sticking points right now are all aimed at mid-term “erections” as my best friend, A Japanese guy from Honolulu, says.
UN report: in 2024 51 million immigrants reside in the US, the most in any country, 94 million live in Europe, including Portugal. Got an exit strategy: immigrate to the US if u can. Your best friend can mock our president, criticize our system, sue the rich, practice Buddhism and eat Japanese food in Honolulu.
If you go to a grocery store and watch, very very few customers actually buy expensive steaks. Often they pick it up; look at the sticker price; set it back down. Others have given up. They walk by the coolers with their heads turned toward the meat, but they never stop. You see versions of that over and over, but to actually see somebody buy expensive steaks? You have to hang around for a while to witness a customer buy ribeyes. I took a photo the other day of two packages of meat in the bargain bin. The steak, two tiny ribeyes, was reduced from $36 to $24. A similar package of thick Chinese pork chops had been reduced to $2.35. Pork was once America’s favorite meat. Corn changed that. Demand for beef is very high. For normal Americans, high-end cuts are a luxury. The cattle industry survives on selling high-end grain finished steaks. Grass-fed is a small market. Tastes nasty. I enjoyed my pork chops. Put $21.65 toward my $17,000.00 Texas property tax bill. Will Trump nationalize the packing industry? Haha. Nobody knows more about steak than Donald.
How long have you sat there watching until someone takes away a steak with them? Thanks for the free market research!
that is 100% our stable genius reading the room.
He was sure that tariffs are not paid by customers but someone else (not sure who.., aliens maybe?. go figure). Unfortunately any adult in the room was kicked out long ago for not kissing genius ass.
Now stable genius is facing reality and is trying to figure out what went wrong, but because there are nobody capable of independent thinking around it is hard to understand what is going on.
I expect a wave of firing in Trump cabinet as obviously someone will have to pay the price and Trump will not admit any wrongdoing.
Anybody with ounce of common sense knew what is coming
Anyone not mentally ill knew what was coming.
86/47 25th, impeach or god, does not matter which. If Republican congress critters had half a brain they would impeach him and get back to governing.
Works for me. Talked about it in a previous post. Repubs in Congress should impeach Trump Tomorrow. And dare Dems not to vote to impeach along with them.
Same in Senate. It takes 2/3 vote to convict, but how can Dems not vote in favor of conviction.
Nothing less will save us.
Why bother typing “GOP should impeach Trump” I have an equal chance of marrying an alien by lunchtime.
So three of his voters are clued in to reality is what you’re saying.
This is a huge opportunity for Trump. Using his favorite mRNA technology, he could restart Operation Warp Speed and fill Super Markets with cheap synthetic beef featuring those ever popular spike proteins, which would make steaks cheaper than a gallon of gasoline.
meanwhile: Sam Altman is Getting Desperate and it is Starting to ShowOpenAI has made commitments of over $1 trillion dollars, and has no plan on how to pay for it. Are you, the tax payer, going to foot the bill?
https://tickerfeed.net/articles/sam-altman-reeks-of-desperation
Yes, YES I AM . I am footing the bill for everything. I will die before they begin to tap my accounts.
The operative words are “should be.” In dc, there doesn’t ever appear any real shame.
OT:
https://corbettreport.com/the-dark-legacy-of-dick-cheney
“We have the amazing irony of price gouging investigations at a time were there is no inflation.”
Not at all. How disingenuous.
We have had massive inflation and price increases for 5 years.
Those don’t go back when ‘inflation’ stops. That damage is REAL, and continues. And the effects continue and catch up with people’s pocketbooks.
That gouging is THAT price increase. Where I am, grocery stores had record profit and profit growth over the past 4 years, well about inflation. They have gouged.
You can’t be that selective in your awareness.
But Trump said ‘“Our groceries are way down. Everything is way down”.
So there is actually deflation
Though he then said ” I don’t want to hear about the affordability. Because right now, we’re much less.”
Which in English would mean affordability is lower, so costs must be higher or incomes lower.
Big beautiful inflation.
Trump inflation means if you voted for him claiming prices are falling forever
We had massive inflation from about June of 2020 to about March of 2022, after which it settled in at about 3% per annum where it has remained. 3% was the norm in the post-war years until the mass offshoring of manufacturing which began in earnest in the mid-90s, which dramatically reduced production costs. The 2 year bout of extreme inflation was the direct result of Trump and Biden handing out free money, increasing demand, at the same time producers were shutdown, reducing supply, due to COVID 19.
Evidence Musk’s X algorithm is designed to boost right wing content (shared sure to Mish’s reliance on the platform and its AI)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/read-report-shows-x-amplifying-163438880.html
He blame foreign owned meat packers ==> China.
China owns pork packing plants. It’s relatively cheap meat. Bolsonaro supporters in Brazil own 2 of the biggest US beef packing plants. Maybe Trump can get the Brazilians to add another 50 years to Jair’s prison sentence.
It is funny. That being said there is an element of truth. We do have some industries with players that have monopolistic control. Is Trump gonna do anything about them other than whine? Nope!
Not really shocking at all, Trump is a progressive, not a conservative. He’s good at mouthing conservative ideas but the way he acts he is all progressive and why would anyone expect him to be anything but that? He’s been at progressive all his life. And to be clear, he is part of the old progressive guard, which Bill Clinton and Biden were part of and not the new school Marxist inspired SJW progressive of today.
Lol no thanks you can keep him 😂
No clue what you’re talking about but OK. LOL
Has anyone noticed that Grok’s programming has been changed? It is now leaning to the right and is no longer fair/balanced.
It has been quite blatantly partisan for a while now. Somehow Mish prefers it as a source of information.
If he took on the medical cartels, I would be more impressed.
From your favorite source, Grok
“In summary, while not conclusively “gouging” in a legal sense yet, the evidence of oligopolistic practices and lawsuits strongly suggests meat packers have contributed to inflated prices beyond supply factors. The ongoing DOJ investigation could clarify this.”
“We need to be honest about what government can and can’t do.”
Well, it is the government’s job to investigate possible price fixing / gouging. I’m not sure why you think this is supposed to be a Dem only policy. The number one cause of the increase in prices is a 20% decline in the cattle population over the last 40 years vs a 40%+ increase in the population.
Granted, Trump can appear to run in circles from time to time, but I’m fine with the government looking into this, just like they look into pharma price fixing from time to time.
Just wondering. What “regulations” are keeping ranchers from increasing their cattle herds? I’m sure they industry will point to climate change which very well may be an issue.
I suspect it’s the poor prices the distribution monopolies pay them
Dought made them cull the herds.
And high costs of feed and higher interest rates are keeping them low so it’s a double whammy.
This has been going on over 40 years.
They are brainwashed to not accept physics, biology, geology, chemistry, meteorology, mathematics, arithmetic, statistics, etc. The American IQ on science is sitting around 70..
How do you know this? Are you a TX cattle rancher?
…“This place here would run 50 cows and now it only runs 30 because we might go four, five, six months without a rain,” Luensmann said as we drove over dry grass to give his cows feed from the store — which is an expensive replacement for grass.
“We’ve had to change practices,” he said, describing what he calls rotational grazing. “Pull the cows out of one pasture, get a little rain, gives the grass a chance to come back,” Luensmann said.
Livestock raisers and experts say drought is a big reason for decreasing cattle numbers, but it is also because of increased operating, equipment and feed costs. …
Drought causes feed prices to be higher.
Lol. 40 years ago James E. Hansen told congress about Climate Change. 40 years ago the massively funded denial of climate change industry went into full deployment. Drought is a real thing. Cattle are very weak animals. They do not do well when under fed. They had to sell them when persistent drought set in. Breeding larger animals also contributed. GMO cattle are bigger than cattle were 40 years ago. Also a factor.
LOL back to you. I’m not denying that climate change is a contributor, but I’m also saying that cattle ranchers are totally okay with seeing their herds get smaller, up to a point. Again, less supply means higher prices. That’s a fact.
Pure gold Mish. Don’t forget the current communist central planning administration wants to set price floors too.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/15/trump-xi-china-bessent-price-floor-rare-earth-critical-mineral.html
Price floors = inflation.
Pork and chicken are affordable. Who cuts up the chickens and the pigs in America? Lol. The Chinese cut up a bunch of it. Scotty Basement is a stupid toad.
Along the same vein, Trump decries giving money to large insurance companies through Obamacare subsidies
Suggests giving the money directly to the people so they can buy their own wonderful healthcare
Contact with how this stuff works with most people? Not so much.
It is amazing how much sense MTG is making now that she is speaking her mind. I never used to agree with her. Now she has decided to represent the people who elected her.
No, she’s decided to run for Presdident–gotta start the run now.
Probably correct. First thing she is doing is distancing herself from Trump, and presenting herself as a centrist.
She’d probably meet the fate of Massie’s wife or Charlie Kirk.
Um, all she’s doing is staying true to her core principle of America First. Most likely, her current position of DOGE Committee Chair has opened her eyes as to how bad government spending really is. And as the economy teeters towards a recession, it makes sense that she’s going to push harder for the working-class people. Most importantly, she’s not a foreign policy wonk, so Trump’s strong support of Israel probably doesn’t sit well with her. Honestly, I think she’s just the female version of Massie to some degree, and she relishes the idea of being a maverick, which means she’s going to buck Trump more. But she’s not out there trashing Trump by & large. Personally, I think Trump’s biggest mistake is profiting from these meme coins which is a very bad look.
Didn’t pay attention to her when she was a MAGA cheerleader, but am listening to her now, because she’s talking like a centrist.
She sounds very much like a Democrat, actually.
Lol no thanks you can keep her 😂
It’s impressive how she can kiss his ring and punch his puppets simultaneously.
I think she got a massive hormone injection.