[HighFreqAsuka]

There's a theory, price-over-volume, that the sudden shift in demand and expectation of inflation gave companies room to explore a different point on the revenue curve, where they increase the price and simply sell less volume. Prior to the pandemic this was risky and people assumed they were near optimal already. During the pandemic a bunch of companies learned they could push on price, sell less, but still make more revenue. All companies did this independently and simultaneously so the usual competitive effects didn't kick in. And now we're at a new equilibrium that the few companies in each industry are happy with.

[listenallyall]

Plenty of industries raised prices with very little effect on volume, however, it was not truly "independent", companies can easily coordinate by sending signals via forecasts, press releases, news leaks, etc. If P&G and Unilever both decide to raise the price of soap and toothpaste, are you going to shower or brush less? Meanwhile demand exploded on discretionary spending like travel, restaurants and recreation despite price increases.

[HighFreqAsuka]

> however, it was not truly "independent",

Of course I don't mean to imply they operate in a vacuum. They can obviously see competitors raising their prices. I just mean to say they don't get into a room and actively decide on a price.

[azinman2]

Except price fixing does occur. I’m not saying everything is the result of it, but they absolutely do.