The Biden administration is calling for grocery chains to lower prices on goods as costs ease, reports Reuters.
"Our message is a very clear one that the President has and will continue to lean into, which is, if you're a company whose input prices have come down and you're not passing those savings along to the consumer, he will call you out," said Jared Bernstein, the chair of Biden's Council of Economic Advisers, in a virtual meeting with reporters. "We've seen elevated [profit] margins, particularly in the grocery sector, and have taken note that there needs to be more pass-through there [to consumers]."
In a White House analysis of Census data, the revenue as a share of costs from food and beverage retailers has risen sharply when compared to before the pandemic. The White House said this relationship more directly tracks retail markups.
"There are still too many corporations in America ripping people off: price gouging, junk fees, greedflation, [and] shrinkflation," said President Biden last week.
Bernstein said consumer confidence is on the mend.
"As inflation continues to ease and the job market remains tight and real wages and wage growth continue to beat price growth, that should start to show up as improved confidence," he said. Full Story (Subscription Required)
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