Walmart’s numbers yesterday were hard to square with the conspiracist narrative that attempts to link inflation to corporate “greed.”
Now this (via Reuters):
Wall Street’s stock indexes tumbled more than 3% on Wednesday as a growth share rally reversed amid concerns about economic growth highlighted by a 26% plunge in Target Corp shares after the retailer became the latest victim of surging prices.
Target’s first-quarter profit halved and the company warned of a bigger margin hit on rising fuel and freight costs. Its shares were on track for their biggest fall since the Black Monday crash on Oct. 19, 1987 and came a day after rival Walmart Inc trimmed its profit forecast.
It’s almost as if it is extremely difficult for a company, even one of those wicked “big” companies, to manage its way through an inflationary surge.
The last thing managements need at this point is having their pricing decisions second-guessed as a result of price-control legislation.
But the combination of central planning and perceived electoral advantage is, it seems, impossible for some politicians to resist.