Demand Progress

Corporate greed existed before the COVID-19 pandemic, but executives made sure to take advantage of the crisis to make corporate greed even worse.

A new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report says that corporate supermarket chains took advantage of supply chain disruptions during the pandemic to squeeze out smaller grocery stores and pad their profits. That’s not all — the FTC says supermarket executives used the pandemic as an opportunity to jack up grocery prices.¹

It’s corporate price gouging. It’s corporate greed. It’s greedflation. CEOs are behind the giant rise in costs for consumers at the grocery store and beyond, not so-called inflation. A way to prevent price gouging and hold corporations accountable for greedflation is for Congress to pass Senator Warren’s Price Gouging Prevention Act!

Sign the petition: Tell Congress to hold corporations accountable and pass Senator Warren’s Price Gouging Prevention Act!

Senator Warren said of the recently introduced legislation: “Giant corporations are squeezing American families for fatter profits. It’s time to give the Biden administration stronger tools. Senate Democrats and I are renewing our push for a new law to crack down on corporate price gouging.”²

There’s a reason corporate profits hit record highs during the pandemic while many Americans were struggling to just get by during a crisis: corporations taking advantage of consumers.

During the past four years, the price of groceries has jumped 25%.³

Where does that extra money we pay go? Right into the pockets of corporate executives and CEOs.

The Price Gouging Prevention Act would provide additional funding to the Federal Trade Commission so the agency can go after price gouging corporations that are exploiting working families.⁴

Americans shouldn’t have to struggle to cover the costs of basic needs just because some greedy executives have the power to jack up prices. Consumers deserve to pay fair prices without fear that we’re being taken advantage of.

Tell Congress: Pass the Price Gouging Prevention Act and hold price gouging corporations accountable!

Sources:

1. New York Times, “Large Grocers Took Advantage of Pandemic Supply Chain Disruptions, F.T.C. Finds,” March 21, 2024.
2. Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren, “Warren, Baldwin, Casey, Schakowsky Reintroduce Legislation to Crack Down on Price Gouging by Giant Corporations,” February 15, 2024.
3. Ibid.
4. American Economic Liberties Project on Twitter, “Senator Warren's new price gouging legislation...” February 15, 2024.