It is a practical concept. If you think greed is a variable, then you will have to explain why McDonalds suddenly got greedy in 2022 and from 1940-2021 they've been charitably keeping prices low. Any why they aren't raising prices right now to the even higher numbers that we'll probably be seeing in a few years.
They just sell for the price that they think brings in the highest profit. That is the algorithm. Their motivations aren't a factor and the algorithm is has always been the same. They could be greedy or they could be not greedy and that doesn't change the situation.
> It seems unlikely that zero companies are riding the wave of inflation acceptance in the population.
It is possible that there are zero of such companies. The populace doesn't get to set prices - otherwise prices would be cost to manufacturer for everything. Since companies make a profit, it is clear that consumers "acceptance" doesn't influence the price.
People aren't accepting these price rises. They're saying all sorts of things about the companies doing them. Doesn't change the fact that the price has changed.
If greed or the acceptance of consumers were important then the situation would look different. Neither matter much.
I want the ability to keep a list of recipes, and when I chose meals for a day/week, have the app take the ingredients list and scrape price sources (supermarket websites, etc.) and then give guidance on exactly where I should purchase each ingredient I need. Then simply track the scraped prices over time for the nominal inflation that you've mentioned.
I read somewhere that this summer strawberries have inflated a lot less in price compared to other fruits. It then led me to having this conspiracy theory that this is why I saw nonstop promotions for strawberry related products/promotions this summer.
If prices go up by 50%, and then you subtract the increase in cost, then any measure over 0 is potentially a greed-driven number.
It seems unlikely that zero companies are riding the wave of inflation acceptance in the population. At least some companies must be increasing their costs because most people aren't willing to check the math.
That isn't always greed related, sure, and some companies may be hedging against further cost increases on their end, and some may be using the increased profits to recover from COVID losses. But still, saying greed isn't a variable, as you did, seems a bit naive. Or am I missing some greater economic concept?