The Australian Financial Review  for 27th August 2024 includes  my op-ed article rebutting renewed claims that ‘profiteering’ or ‘price-gouging’ by businesses has been a significant contributor to the persistent inflation that Australia has experienced over the past three years.

So why are both the left (in the form of the Greens) and the right (in the form of the National Party, who seem increasingly to be dictating economic policy to the ostensibly senior Liberal Party) pushing a line that simply isn’t supported by any evidence? It’s hard to go past the usual reason as to why politicians say and do what they say and do: that they think there are votes to be had.

2024-08-26 Profit margins and inflation for AFR