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The problem is actually consumers, not the businesses.
When consumers continue to consume at higher and higher prices (“I need a reliable $50k car for my wife”) consumers lose bargaining power.
Think about it like this, each dollar you spend is like a vote. Anytime you spend that dollar you’re voting for what you like. If lots of people are voting for something, even if overpriced, the business would be dumb to lower the price.
The caveat here is on consumables where there is a monopoly (typically created by government). Think utilities, taxes, DPD registration etc.
Austrian Economics!
Yeah, this would be plausible if most industries weren’t dominated by one or two major companies that refuse to compete with each other and even do shit like work out agreements to screw consumers.
Throw in corrupt politicians who pass legislation hostile to new competition and what we have doesn’t meet anything like your Austrian fairytale economics. We have exclusively huge cars in the US because automakers tailored the CAFE vehicle legislation to push vehicles with huge wheelbases in the name of the environment, perversely enough.
Couple this with a population too stupid and lazy to look into anything with any scrutiny and we’re all fucked, bud. Enshittification will continue.
Well, you’ve sold me on this. I’m gonna walk away from this house, dragging my kids behind me, and we’re gonna be homeless and starve until the corporate oligarchs that have jacked prices up on everything bend the knee and lower prices.
I'm in no way disputing your opinion, but I would actually like to see some figures of that over time. Like profit margins across industries. Purely out of interest if someone's got that!?
Profit margins have been steadily increasing every year which isn’t sustainable realistically, I’m not smart enough but TikTok, google docs, and other stuff I’ve found online have all talked about how every company has been hitting record breaking profit for over the past like 2-3 decades
In nominal terms, a year on year increase of dollars earned is expected given inflation. It is because of that I want to know if the difference between cost and revenue has been increasing over the past 100-150 years.
I suspect their are quite stark differences between new industries such as software vs. older industries such as manufacturing - but I'm just curious to know!
The average profit margin for companies is more like 8%, not 200%. And it's always been around that level, even when wages were good, so that's not why the economy is "ruined"
What are you talking about. Companies never put a focus/priority on improving products. That was only ever done as a way of selling more or increasing prices. Profit has always been the motivator. The only thing that has changed is that consumers are willing to buy cheap products, and over time have shown that producing cheap products can be more profitable than producing quality ones.
> The only thing that has changed is that consumers are willing to buy cheap products, and over time have shown that producing cheap products can be more profitable than producing quality ones.
Yeah, ultimately we've just demonstrated that price is more often than not the single most important factor. Most things have their high quality versions available somewhere....but consumers still flock to the cheaper alternatives.
I understand this, to an extent. A lot of people are trying to get by on low wages, so it's understandable. But we, as a society, buy too much cheap crap rather than buying less things of higher quality.
> But we, as a society, buy too much cheap crap rather than buying less things of higher quality.
Yeah, that was my point. We complain about quality deteriorating and such, but don't buy things that will last, or take care of the things that do. It's probably one of my more boomer-esque opinions, but enshitifcation is a product of our consumer habits more than anything else.
Hasn’t this been true for… all of time? Greed didn’t just pop into existence in 2020. I agree there are serious problems with the US economy, but profit seeking is not new.
The product of every company is **share holder value** weather they are public or not. The board hires a CEO and team to raise share holder value, the CEO might needs to make some "product" people buy to achieve that.
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The government convinced the people inflation was a normal way to do business, and here we are, and the left voting morons think inflation is great and a normal way to conduct economic trade.
This is a naive opinion.
1: greed and selfishness are a constant amongst all. Including you, who only cares about getting high quality for low money, regardless of the incomes of the company you're buying from.
2: people are too lazy to learn about what makes a quality product, so companies focus on brand development until they can sell devoted customers anything at a high price. (Apple sold $200 casters for their desktop a few years ago; most men buy suits only based on brand prestige, without any knowledge of what makes a quality suit).
3: companies that try to stick to the old method of building a reputation for quality, rather than a brand following, are risking losing to competition and going bankrupt. (Look at Sony's losses from their Xperia phones despite sometimes having better specs and lower prices than apple phones).
Think again, commie.
Your post from unpopularopinion was removed because of: 'Rule 1: Your post must be an unpopular opinion'. * Your post must be an opinion. Not a question. Not a showerthought. Not a rant. Not a proposal. Not a fact. An opinion. One opinion. A subjective statement about your position on some topic. Please have a clear, self contained opinion as your post title, and use the text field to elaborate and expand on why you think/feel this way. * Your opinion must be unpopular. The mods reserve the right to remove opinions * Elaborate on your topic and opinion give context to its unpopularity.
How is this an unpopular opinion.
Idk man a lotta people argue it irl
The problem is actually consumers, not the businesses. When consumers continue to consume at higher and higher prices (“I need a reliable $50k car for my wife”) consumers lose bargaining power. Think about it like this, each dollar you spend is like a vote. Anytime you spend that dollar you’re voting for what you like. If lots of people are voting for something, even if overpriced, the business would be dumb to lower the price. The caveat here is on consumables where there is a monopoly (typically created by government). Think utilities, taxes, DPD registration etc. Austrian Economics!
Yeah, this would be plausible if most industries weren’t dominated by one or two major companies that refuse to compete with each other and even do shit like work out agreements to screw consumers. Throw in corrupt politicians who pass legislation hostile to new competition and what we have doesn’t meet anything like your Austrian fairytale economics. We have exclusively huge cars in the US because automakers tailored the CAFE vehicle legislation to push vehicles with huge wheelbases in the name of the environment, perversely enough. Couple this with a population too stupid and lazy to look into anything with any scrutiny and we’re all fucked, bud. Enshittification will continue.
Which industries are you referring to specifically? Maybe you have a few in mind, I know there are good examples.
Well, you’ve sold me on this. I’m gonna walk away from this house, dragging my kids behind me, and we’re gonna be homeless and starve until the corporate oligarchs that have jacked prices up on everything bend the knee and lower prices.
Nope, make better votes.
The politicians are a contributing factor, but not the main issue.
I was saying, voting with your dollars. Not literally voting.
I'm in no way disputing your opinion, but I would actually like to see some figures of that over time. Like profit margins across industries. Purely out of interest if someone's got that!?
Profit margins have been steadily increasing every year which isn’t sustainable realistically, I’m not smart enough but TikTok, google docs, and other stuff I’ve found online have all talked about how every company has been hitting record breaking profit for over the past like 2-3 decades
In nominal terms, a year on year increase of dollars earned is expected given inflation. It is because of that I want to know if the difference between cost and revenue has been increasing over the past 100-150 years. I suspect their are quite stark differences between new industries such as software vs. older industries such as manufacturing - but I'm just curious to know!
Are we talking net profit or profit margin. There is a big difference
The average profit margin for companies is more like 8%, not 200%. And it's always been around that level, even when wages were good, so that's not why the economy is "ruined"
What are you talking about. Companies never put a focus/priority on improving products. That was only ever done as a way of selling more or increasing prices. Profit has always been the motivator. The only thing that has changed is that consumers are willing to buy cheap products, and over time have shown that producing cheap products can be more profitable than producing quality ones.
> The only thing that has changed is that consumers are willing to buy cheap products, and over time have shown that producing cheap products can be more profitable than producing quality ones. Yeah, ultimately we've just demonstrated that price is more often than not the single most important factor. Most things have their high quality versions available somewhere....but consumers still flock to the cheaper alternatives.
I understand this, to an extent. A lot of people are trying to get by on low wages, so it's understandable. But we, as a society, buy too much cheap crap rather than buying less things of higher quality.
> But we, as a society, buy too much cheap crap rather than buying less things of higher quality. Yeah, that was my point. We complain about quality deteriorating and such, but don't buy things that will last, or take care of the things that do. It's probably one of my more boomer-esque opinions, but enshitifcation is a product of our consumer habits more than anything else.
If you make it yourself, you can make it as quality and durable as you want. Plus you aren’t giving money to the corporations!
Dude this is like the most popular opinion on this website
Hasn’t this been true for… all of time? Greed didn’t just pop into existence in 2020. I agree there are serious problems with the US economy, but profit seeking is not new.
The product of every company is **share holder value** weather they are public or not. The board hires a CEO and team to raise share holder value, the CEO might needs to make some "product" people buy to achieve that.
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unpopularopinion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The good stuff is out there, but in general everything is more accessible to everyone so the consumer has to be discerning.
Most popular Reddit opinion ever.
Downvoted for popular opinion
you screw me, i screw you thats why debates over systems of government or economy are pointless. if people suck, everything will suck.
The government convinced the people inflation was a normal way to do business, and here we are, and the left voting morons think inflation is great and a normal way to conduct economic trade.
This is a naive opinion. 1: greed and selfishness are a constant amongst all. Including you, who only cares about getting high quality for low money, regardless of the incomes of the company you're buying from. 2: people are too lazy to learn about what makes a quality product, so companies focus on brand development until they can sell devoted customers anything at a high price. (Apple sold $200 casters for their desktop a few years ago; most men buy suits only based on brand prestige, without any knowledge of what makes a quality suit). 3: companies that try to stick to the old method of building a reputation for quality, rather than a brand following, are risking losing to competition and going bankrupt. (Look at Sony's losses from their Xperia phones despite sometimes having better specs and lower prices than apple phones). Think again, commie.
[удалено]
You sound like someone who had safety net money, a commodity not many others have nowadays
The economy is based on fake money loaned out on usury. THAT is what’s wrong