Price

Yesterday

Michael Simmons

Healey shouldn’t repeat the ‘price gouging’ dog whistle

Our supermarkets are showing remarkable restraint. The previous Chancellor and now the new one can’t resist slandering them. In an article for The Sunday Telegraph, John Healey writes that ‘we will be watching closely for any suggestions that customers are being taken for a ride at the pump or the till’. If there’s any evidence of British shoppers being ripped off then he assures readers that ‘our regulators have the powers to clamp down on it’. The truth is that supermarkets are a miraculous innovation whose praises are not sung enough Gee thanks, John. Trouble is, ‘price gouging’ is a made up, dishonest, dog whistle myth.

Wednesday

Rory Sutherland

The beauty of mid-range products

Once or twice, when on a crowded overnight flight, I have taken a sneaky stroll through the different cabins for the purpose of comparison. My reaction on first peering into each cabin goes like this. First class: ‘Gosh, this is fabulous. It’s like a restaurant in the air.’ Business class: ‘Ooh, this is nice; they get flat beds and everything.’ Premium economy: ‘Well this is OK; the seats seem comfy and it’s all pretty civilised.’ Economy: ‘It’s the “Raft of the Medusa”.’ Now here’s the thing. In terms of comfort, the biggest gap between two adjacent flight classes is between economy and premium economy.