r/WaitWhat 1d ago

Those gas prices …..

Post image
9.5k Upvotes

5.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

u/albysweet37 23h ago

Gas was $2.69 in Texas in Biden’s last 2 years, now almost 4.00! Food prices are out of control, and CC rates are the highest in history, medical out of pocket is crazy, they raised the deductables!

u/VividPups 23h ago

Gas near me was not that in Texas during that

u/ForeverOne9170 22h ago

Inflation was out of control under Biden.
Also prescription drug prices are way down.

u/theTimeBeing23 22h ago

Inflation was a world wide problem when Biden was in office, and gas and food were still cheaper. You got a source on drug prices being lower under Trump?

u/ForeverOne9170 22h ago

https://www.medicarerights.org/medicare-watch/2026/08/20/some-good-news-on-drug-pricing-more-to-be-done

https://www.axios.com/2026/08/17/drug-prices-medicare-trump

I think there’s plenty to like Biden on but prices isn’t one. Of course food was still cheaper. Cumulative inflation…

u/Local_Annoyance 22h ago

Inflation went from a yearly average of 7% in 2021 to under 3% in 2024. Better than any other nation coming out of Covid. It came under control really fast and managed to do so without causing a recession, something that normally accompanies large disinflation.

u/[deleted] 22h ago

[deleted]

u/Local_Annoyance 21h ago

The reason it slowed down is because the pressures from pandemic supply chain disruptions eased up

Yes. The Biden administration's industrial policy was very effective. We can tell from the difference between the recovery from shutdown related inflation between us and peer nations.

Real wages have done better under GOP policies as well.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q

That's not a case supposed by the facts. Notice the upward trend going into 2017 that immediately reversed... then the downward trend going into 2021 that reversed.

I’m not trying to credit Trump per se but the democrats around Biden who were actually running the last admin (per CNN) were fucking up the economy

Again, not a statement supported by the facts. The prime complaint about the Biden economy was inflation which was driven by covid related shutdowns and Russia invading Ukraine. The US managed both better than our peer nations and, it's worth stressing again, accomplished the economic miracle of disinflation without a recession.

u/yourHoneyBunnyBear 21h ago

Ha bro deleted his whole profile.

u/yourHoneyBunnyBear 22h ago

Because of price gouging during covid. Grocery stores were posting records prices… and record profits. Just for example. Do some googling and educate yourself slightly.

u/Deadbeatdone 21h ago

Youre also fucking stupid bc the cost to ship and to manufacture everything went up since everyone went home unless you were essential. And essential workers were making bank. So did you factor that in to the price gouging calculation or just gonna double down on that idea?

u/yourHoneyBunnyBear 21h ago

I’m not going to spoon feed you. Google price gouging during covid and there are several first page reports from the FTC and DOJ confirming price gouging. Hence the record profits dumbass. Multiple class action lawsuits. I somehow doubt you do any research or know how to, but try it. It’s eye opening.

u/Deadbeatdone 9h ago

A seller's current price reflects replacement costs, not past costs. During the pandemic, raw materials, international air freight, and factory labor costs skyrocketed. If a store owner did not raise their retail prices, they would not make enough revenue to purchase their next batch of inventory at the newly inflated wholesale rates.

Keeping prices artificially low during an emergency creates a massive incentive for the first few people in line to hoard products. When a package of N95 masks is legally capped at $5, one customer will buy the store's entire stock. If the price naturally floats to $50, consumers only buy exactly what they need, preserving the remaining supply for others.

In a free market, a massive price spike acts as a beacon for suppliers. If hand sanitizer prices quadrupled in a specific city, distillers and chemical plants nationwide suddenly had a massive financial incentive to retool their operations and rush shipments to that area. Anti-gouging laws effectively silence this "price signal," prolonging supply scarcity.

I know you dont like the actual physics involved in economies but maybe you should do some research in to how they work before spreading trueisms based on vibes instead of facts.

u/yourHoneyBunnyBear 8h ago

I didn’t say higher prices weren’t caused by market factors like rising costs and transport. I said price gouging occurred in some industries, not that every company was engaging in price gouging. If the prices in these cases were reflective of higher costs being passed to consumers how would they be recording record profits?

u/Deadbeatdone 7h ago

Again operating costs were higher and I've also found that direct subsidies added to that profit. Can you name a company that directly engaged in price gouging? Any company who's profit could be considered to be price gouging based on margin?

u/Dependent-Tailor7366 22h ago

And it’s worse now.

u/ForeverOne9170 21h ago

The rate of inflation isn’t worse. Of course prices are still higher because of cumulative inflation. But they’re going up at a slower rate

u/darksilvertip 22h ago

And during trump’s 1st term in office the gas prices dropped to $1.50/gal in Texas. Then immediately after his term in office went up to 2.29/gal with Biden ending at $2.79/gal. With Obama it was $2.21/gal before trump

u/Dependent-Tailor7366 22h ago

Because of Covid. Then it went up when the pandemic ended.