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Re:Inflation rose 9.1% in June, even more than expected by sangnoir on Wednesday July 13, 2022 @12:39PM (#32085121)
> Unless there is a monopoly, companies have to offer the lowest / best deal or they go out of business quickly.

I don't know why you think companies like competition more than they like profits. Companies raise their prices in lockstep a lot: sometimes it is coordinated, mostly its not. Despite your faith in perfect competition: established companies do not want a race to the bottom - which is a classic iterated prisoner's dilemma scenario.

Re:Inflation rose 9.1% in June, even more than expected by worker_person on Wednesday July 13, 2022 @01:28PM (#32085920)
Bet most of those rely on heavy regulations of the government to prevent competition.
Re:Inflation rose 9.1% in June, even more than expected by sangnoir on Wednesday July 13, 2022 @02:36PM (#32086932)
A number of things raise the bar: CapEx, regulations, or even high marketing costs (e.g. if one wants to compete against Coca-cola/Pepsi: making flavoured water isn't hard, over-regulated or expensive, but customer acquisition in that space is expensive).

Incumbents rarely want to rock the boat against other, similar-sized incumbents.