Is this another one of those pandemic era propaganda pieces (shoplifters are causing store closures!) designed to (A) get the public to demand more police and (B) allow corporations to raise prices to increase profits under false pretenses?
It is good and moral that people who commit crimes are punished for doing so; and our current societal norms include ideas like "people can have personal property" and "it's bad to take something that belongs to someone else". The prevention, deterrence and fair handling of crime generally requires people to do that work.
There's no "false pretense" involved in the idea that theft increases the cost of goods for paying customers. The businesses in question appear to be offering insurance which is entirely opt-in. It's not any different from offering an extended warranty.
But even in principle, businesses don't need to be "allowed" to "raise prices to increase profits". Increasing profits is their explicit right, and to some extent even their responsibility (to shareholders). But it turns out that raising prices is often counterproductive to that goal, because prices influence demand. This is both Economics 101 and common sense.
Keep in mind here that we're talking about goods that are being shipped to houses (and possibly being stolen from front porches). Generally speaking, that's not exactly going to include basic necessities.
Is this another one of those pandemic era propaganda pieces (shoplifters are causing store closures!) designed to (A) get the public to demand more police and (B) allow corporations to raise prices to increase profits under false pretenses?
More so retailers are externalizing loss insurance out to the consumer instead of treating as part of the price.
Assuming they’re able to discriminate on the cost to bias against high theft regions you’ll see a lot more pressure locally to fix the problems.
It is good and moral that people who commit crimes are punished for doing so; and our current societal norms include ideas like "people can have personal property" and "it's bad to take something that belongs to someone else". The prevention, deterrence and fair handling of crime generally requires people to do that work.
There's no "false pretense" involved in the idea that theft increases the cost of goods for paying customers. The businesses in question appear to be offering insurance which is entirely opt-in. It's not any different from offering an extended warranty.
But even in principle, businesses don't need to be "allowed" to "raise prices to increase profits". Increasing profits is their explicit right, and to some extent even their responsibility (to shareholders). But it turns out that raising prices is often counterproductive to that goal, because prices influence demand. This is both Economics 101 and common sense.
Keep in mind here that we're talking about goods that are being shipped to houses (and possibly being stolen from front porches). Generally speaking, that's not exactly going to include basic necessities.