One half of Australia's supermarket duopoly, #Coles reported their profits rose by considerably more than their modest increase in sales volume and despite rapidly rising shoplifting amidst a #CostOfLiving squeeze. This is strongly suggestive of corporate #profiteering - confirming other studies that have revealed the duopoly's willingness to exploit an inflationary period by jacking up prices beyond the implications of any supply disruptions.

Yet the #InvisibleHandOfTheMarket * in its infinite and ineffable wisdom gave the Coles share price a spanking at this news, apparently for not profiteering hard enough.

*as always, wherever you see/hear the phrase #TheMarket it is necessary to translate this into "the desires and priorities of very wealthy people", who own the vast majority of corporate shares.
#Auspol #plutocracy #inflation #greed

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/aug/22/coles-supermarket-annual-profit-rise-grocery-price-rise

An #ABC article that acts as a loudspeaker for a multinational communications company, advertising its latest PR campaign: give multinational corporations more power.

This is why people are losing trust in mainstream media. Because here is (allegedly) "Australia's most trusted news source" uncritically repeating the agenda of a rich and powerful organisation, and treating what amounts to a corporate press release as real news, without the need for further context or editorial comment.

Distinguishing between "business leaders" and "rich and powerful" is doing a lot of work here. They are effectively A-B testing public perceptions of phrases that refer to more or less the same individuals and interests.

Under #capitalism, whenever you hear "markets" or "business" or "investors" or any other obfuscatory circumlocution for where power and influence lie in a world run by money for profit, it is best to mentally substitute "very, very rich people". There is no magical entity called #TheMarket with a mind or agency of its own. The market is merely a reification of the collective desires, fears, prejudices, agenda and values of the #plutocrats who hold nearly all the beans and call nearly all the shots.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-08/trust-slump-as-division-rules/101939406

And even if you are wildly optimistic about what the "developers only", insane working hours, A/B testing against the entire user base can achieve...

The infra costs still need to be paid, on top of the debt that Musk loaded the company with... so shrinking income, pending lawsuits, high fixed costs (just servicing the debt, plus running the infra). Gutting headcount looks like a quick win on the #opex side but it rarely achieves the results expected by #themarket

> .. #TheMarket cannot guarantee integral human development and social inclusion.. we have “a.. ‘superdevelopment’ of a wasteful and #consumerist kind which forms an unacceptable contrast with.. ongoing.. #dehumanizing deprivation”.. while we are.. too slow in developing economic institutions and social initiatives which can give the poor.. access to basic resources.. our.. failures.. have to do with the direction, goals, meaning and social implications of technological and #EconomicGrowth.