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What do you think of Internet outrage of companies raising their prices, chiefly companies like Netflix and fast food restaurants? I think morally, it seems pretty iffy- it's a free market, and if they raise their prices, you can just stop buying what they offer. If the government got involved to set any sort of price ceiling, I think that'd definitely be a bad idea that'd lead to a shortage of some sort.
But if the outrage lets customers act as a pseudo-monopsony which gives them more power, I also don't really mind if they're able to use it to demand cheaper prices, even if I think the accusations of corporations being evil are vastly overblown. Especially when it comes to keeping the price of something like Netflix low, where much of their value comes from having exclusive rights to stream old shows and movies instead of all revenue to them going towards making new stuff or improving technology. If consumer outrage keeps the Netflix price $5 cheaper than it otherwise would be, is anything hurt besides shareholder bank accounts?
I find it tiresome, particularly the way people complain about free content having advertisements with it, but immoral? That feels a little heavy.
On the other hand, I have finally forced my wife to get to the point of rotating streaming services on a monthly basis. I've no doubt they will make month to month subscriptions impossible soon, so might as well take advantage of it while we can.
In general, fast food economics don't work anymore. Only the existing infrastructure and mindshare keep them open. Taco Bell is barely cheaper than our local burrito joint if you're putting together a decent order. We're seeing a definite shift in my area away from McDonald's and towards Sheetz/Wawa/Royal Farms, the food at the latter has improved while the prices are as low or lower.
Immoral in the sense that they're lying about how much money the corporations are making.
I agree. But if it actually works at getting platforms to have fewer ads... then is it actually a bad thing?
The falsehoods are easily dismissed, because if the company is healthy and making more money than they let on, then why isn't the advice to the public to just buy shares (at least, of those that are public)? After all, they're just being greedy, so why aren't they encouraging everyone to put themselves on the other side of that equation? And if they're voting shares they also get a say in C-suite remuneration! Wouldn't that be exactly what people who complain about greed be doing? After all, they seem to know so much about running a business and how pricing should work, I'm sure they'd do a great job as investors! /s
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