I have to disagree with the assertion that hidden fee's are a side battle. It highlights the fundamental dishonesty running amok in corporate America. That a lot of inflation isn't inflation at all but greed and dishonesty.

@americanexpat8792

2 ай бұрын

Absolutely! Many companies used the 'air cover' of inflation to take advantage of the situation. Here in Ireland, culture constrains that behavior to a degree that simply isn't found in the US. There are not many hidden fees here at all.

@Winspur1982

Ай бұрын

Right, the "canoe" analogy is a little silly -- or maybe Biden doesn't need to cross the Atlantic Ocean in it, only hop to the next island in a Polynesian archipelago, which ancient explorers routinely did.

I just bought a plane ticket and it was advertised as $254 but after all the fees it cost $344. $90 in fees. Not long ago the price you saw was the price you paid minus tax

Housing has hidden fees too. I rent through Airbnb and overall I like the experience, BUT I got slapped with a $81.83 fee apparently because I wanted to extend my "lease" by 26 days (the 26 days' rent is of course another payment). The business leaders whining about over-regulation sound exactly like the slaveowners who screamed that Lincoln was a tyrant.

Maybe we should just inform the public that what they want is called "socialism"

@frankthetank130

2 ай бұрын

I don’t know if you’re being sarcastic or funny. I certainly cackled. But yeah, irrespective of your political orientation, we need to regulate capitalism. Unfortunately for many that’s socialism, but in truth we are regulating what is essentially an oligopoly. We either need more competition or more socialism. As a nation we are stuck in a middle ground that has the inequality of capitalism and the high prices and inefficiencies of an oligopoly. I’d rather just have socialism then.

@MeanOldLady

Ай бұрын

@@frankthetank130 Socialism is fascism. All power & wealth concentrates upwards into the hands of the few as they hide behind a mask of altruism to con morons into giving away their wealth & freedom to these worthless tyrants! Why do you absolute fools instead on repeating genocidal history?!

@paxdriver

Ай бұрын

@@frankthetank130 lol I was being honest and facetious at the same time. I think the biggest apprehension to the dreaded "socialism" is the mentality that it just is one thing. Socialism is not one way of doing things. Not everything is an extreme. In fact, most things are best done when not in the extreme. Socialism just means controls on the distribution/use/destruction of common property. It means the air, water and oil belong to the people, so the government ensures (to varying degrees based on what we the people decide suits our culture best) that the people ought to have acess to and benefit from the extraction of natural resources, for example. It means we force companies to clean up their mess and cap their abandoned wells, or prevent the sale of public clean water to Nestle when there are no other sources of clean water for the people of that area. It means pollution is paid for by polluters either by profit sharing with the public, or capping prices, or rebates when the polluter has strong years. Socialism is the thing we all agree we want, but the media have done so well with propaghandizing the word everyone in America is scared of it. The things people are afraid of from socialism is what we already have right now. Socialism is the practise that mitigates those harms, not causes them. So long as it doesn't devolve into a despotic regime there is no reason to fear socialism, just like despotic capitalism would be equally dystopian. It's the tyranny we fear, not the institutionalized and democratic protections of publicly enjoyed property.

New York Times Podcasts, You're fantastic! Let's be friends and have fun!

Amen! Kudos to Biden! At least, somebody has taken aim on that. It was amazing coming back to the US for the summer of 2021. You had to super vigilant since the prices advertised to you never end up being the final prices paid. The US is a culture that tries to squeeze the average guy at every turn. Thank God for Ireland. Erin go brauch!

@DAVIDSAWH

2 ай бұрын

It is actually the richest people in America who are responsible for all these junk fees and who do not want them removed so that they can keep robbing people. It is each and every one of these enormous corporations.

Compared to trumps efforts to help consumers it looks pretty good

@ScottCleve33

2 ай бұрын

As a consumer I'll tack Trump over Bidens inflation any day.