Re:UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate...
by fauigerzigerk on Friday March 24, 2023 @02:32PM
(#35293528)
>Large retailers have this exact role: they certainly demand and get lower prices from their suppliers. We need a non-profit version of this
This has been tried a lot in the 20th century (starting in the 19th century), usually emerging from the labour movement. I think in food retail and energy it has mostly failed or simply stopped making difference. The profit margins of food retailers are small to begin with and easily lost by being a bit less efficient.
But Europe and the UK in particular has been using a similar model pretty successfully to keep drug prices low. Some argue that costs were merely shifted over to the U.S. I think this is only partially true.
This has been tried a lot in the 20th century (starting in the 19th century), usually emerging from the labour movement. I think in food retail and energy it has mostly failed or simply stopped making difference. The profit margins of food retailers are small to begin with and easily lost by being a bit less efficient.
But Europe and the UK in particular has been using a similar model pretty successfully to keep drug prices low. Some argue that costs were merely shifted over to the U.S. I think this is only partially true.