Is the prevalence of people receiving government assistance raising the prices on goods?

yes. It is basic economics. When the government starts buying more of something the prices go up. Health Care, College, Food and on and on.


ETA: This is most painful for the middle class. The rich don't care because these things are nothing to them. The poor get it for free.

Interesting conspiracy theory.

Seriously, though, it would not surprise me. Nothing really surprises me in this world anymore.

I think you'd need a much larger percentage of the population on the dole for it to affect pricing.

Health insurance has had this effect on costs of health care because insurance is so widespread now, and for a long time there's been no accountability in billing because they're ripping off an insurance company, not an individual.

If the same were attempted in grocery stores, a large enough percentage of people would avoid overpriced goods to show up as a decrease in demand, because EBT isn't as widespread.

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This is most painful for the middle class. The rich don't care because these things are nothing to them. The poor get it for free.

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Very good point.

You are correct to be suspicious of Wal Mart in this area, but wrong in your specific assertion.

"Public assistance" is really corporate welfare. The poor people are nothing but a pass through. Wal Marts entire labor model is built around the fact that 90 percent of their in store employees are on one or more forms of public assistance.

The demand for said good will increase the price in relations to supply of that good.

Wal-Mart benefits greatly from EBT usage and so does other grocery chains, that's one of the reasons why their prices are so much lower than Publix or Whole Foods.

Wal-Mart has an interest in food assistance continuing because it helps their bottom line.

The true way to combat this would be to build up lower income communities through business investments in infrastructure. This will create sustainable jobs if the foundation of the capital venture is going to be natural resources. If you get a couple of small plants in those areas, demand will increase for other goods and services and growth will increase exponentially. Teach these communities to become self sufficient and slowly grow from there, kind of like the Amish.

In saying all that, major corporations have no interest in seeing people be self sufficient in any way. They want people to depend on them solely. They lobby to politicians to keep that way because any other way is a threat to their bottom line.

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Yet they still do at staggering levels

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No.

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If EBT were cut would unemployment go down or crime rise?

We pay the poors and they still want to commit crime essentially

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there FIFY

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If EBT were cut would unemployment go down or crime rise?

We pay the poors not to commit crime essentially

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But yet crime still is out of control. I say cut EBT completely. Start shooting thieves. Crimes goes down by killing thugs. Less trashy humans so demand for goods goes down therefore prices go down. Win win for working folks.