Early Show: Rodriguez Laments Laws of Supply and Demand

Photo of Mark Finkelstein.

Prices shouldn't be set by supply and demand.  They should be determined by, well, what prices "should" be.  That's the innovative theory Maggie Rodriguez propounded on today's Early Show.

The Early Show anchor's unique take on economics came in the course of a segment on the falling price of gasoline.  Rodriguez lamented to co-anchor Chris Wragge that grocery prices weren't falling along with gas prices.  In Maggie's view, grocers who set prices based on demand rather than on what prices "should" be are the culprits.

MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: We have some good news this morning in these tough economic times. The average price of a gallon of gas has dropped below three dollars. This morning, AAA says that gas is $2.92 a gallon.  That's the national average, down from an all-time high of $4.11 just this past July.

And we are attributing this to of course the price of oil.  Soaring oil prices are going down and so are gas prices. But this is not affecting grocery bills, Chris, and that's because as long as there is demand, these grocers, they price their products based on that and not what they should be pricing them on.
Great point.  I'd suggest Rodriguez immediately contact Barack Obama and recommend that his administration establish a new department.  Call it the "Bureau for the Pricing of Goods Based on What They Should be Priced On." Perhaps Maggie would agree to serve as its first Commissar!  

—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.


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OMG Mark....how does one

OMG Mark....how does one even argue with someone like that?

Her brain obviously has a moron chip!

And hey, Maggie, who gets to decide what the prices "should" be?

And this guy sitting with her agrees!

A matched set.

PS...I'm sure the Obamessiah has already thought of that...it goes with "spread[ing] the wealth around."

OMG Mark....how does one

OMG Mark....how does one even argue with someone like that?

I wouldn't even make the attempt. My head would hurt too much in the process. 

“There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.” - Ronald Reagan (1964 Republican Convention)

This mental midget probably

This mental midget probably thinks ethanol is a great idea too.  Having no idea at all that burning half of the nations corn production to make ethanol (which there is no demand for) has caused the rise in food prices.  Virtually every food which is processed (think: everything but fruit and green vegetables) contains corn syrup or some form of grain which has gone up because of the speculation on corn futures brought about by CONGRESS mandating BILLIONS of gallons of ethanol be produced all the way out to 2013.

Congress never told us they were going to tax our food by mandating ethanol (and giving away hundreds of billions to Big Corn).  They won't admit they did it.  And idiots in the media don't mention it because they are too stupid to know it happened.  But that doesn't stop them from complaining about the price of milk.

Maggie

I guess Maggie is going to be Secretary of the Treasury.

 Better yet, Obama, make Maggie the Fed Reserve Chairman.  Maybe she'll get a clue.

let's see if we can help

let's see if we can help her out.....

grocer or other store owner..thinks prices "should be here"

buyer or grocery's or other products think prices "should be here"

so until the "should be here" prices meet nothing will sell. let's give her a little break...so she wasn't that far off......what a dope!

No offense Maggie-

you're a dolt.

What a dumb ( ! )

It is now apparent why the liberals have banned the word BIMBO!!!

Wrong topic on wrong site

  This site is about "Exposing & Combating Liberal Media Bias"

  You meant to post this on NewsBoobs - "Exposing & Combating Loony Media Dumbasses"

  Newsbusters sister site. 

Sincerely,

a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.

JWF, ROFLMAO!

"Exposing & Combating Loony Media Dumbasses"

I think your on to something there.

-Dave

I am without words...

I am without words...

Too Much Just Ain't Enough

"Call it the 'Bureau for the Pricing of Goods Based on What They Should be Priced On.'"

Didn't Democrats propose something like this for the oil industry? I don't think it was price controls, but they proposed a federal board or commission to review profits to ascertain whether or not they were too much. Same difference, right?

So, Ms. Rodriguez may just have a spot in the forthcoming Obama administration.

I would not be at all surprised if his administration tries to set prices on energy and food.

Too much fun has always cost me.

I don't think it was price

I don't think it was price controls, but they proposed a federal board
or commission to review profits to ascertain whether or not they were
too much. Same difference, right?

Look for them to do it in many areas.  After all, look how well it worked in the 70's....

They just won't call them "price controls." 

Maybe "standards"  or  "goals" (like affirmative action quotas)....

 

Jimmy Karter's comeback!

Ohhh... the good ol' days!

Where in the Obama adminstration will Jimmy Karter be? Secretary of Commerce?

PALIN/McCain 2008

He'll be the head of the

He'll be the head of the "Bureau for the Pricing of Goods Based on What They Should be Priced On."

Too funny!

Ow- my side hurts!

Wrong Department

I think Secretary of State he was so good at foreign relations. 

 

"...no civilization, no matter how rich, no matter how refined, can long survive once it loses the power to meet force with equal or superior force." - Bernard Knox

Better yet

Jimmah Karter would be a splendid United Nations Ambassador!

Well, Copper...if "J.O.B.S."

Was a three letter word, like "F.U.N.", they'd make you pay to do it, instead of the other way around!

 

In his own words (19 seconds):  This man is qualified to be VP?

LOL! Why Obama Scares The

Half a Brain

Dwayne  P.  Theriot

Don't be too hard on Maggie, after becoming a liberal she did have that mandatory lobotomy.

Here Comes CENTRAL Planning!

Boy, Anybody ever see what it was like in East Germany under the Soviets?

Central Planning set the prices of all Goods and Services!

There were few Goods and Service Sucked!

We are going to be SCREWED unless we STOP OBAMA NOW!

East Germany

I've been to East Germany.  What the hell are you talking about?  It was GREAT!  It worked wonderfully there!  They even had to build a wall around West Berlin (and a fence on their border with West Germany) to keep people from flooding their country from the West!

Wait a minute...

Whoever casts a vote for Obama-Biden is nothing more than a common thief.  Whoever fails to vote against them is nothing more than a moral coward.

Confused Liberals

And yet liberals constantly slam America over and over again. Nevermind that there are people clamoring to get here - legally and illegally.

So, why were liberals never clamoring to get into East Germany? That's my question...

PALIN/McCain 2008

The East was already

The East was already enlightened, they had to take the hard task of enlightening the West!

Can you say massive shortages?

I only took two economics courses in college, Micro and Macro economics, yet even I know what happens when the incentive to produce is taken out of the picture.

I hate to tell this profoundly ignorant woman, but farmers do not grow food to feed the polulace, and grocers aren't in business for that reason, either.

These people do what they do in order to make money, not for the good of humanity. When the possibility of making money is no-longer present, they will cease their current activities in order to find something that will.

If this idiot has her way, we will all starve to death.

-Dave

RD, this is so old, I would

RD, this is so old, I would never be able to find it. 

But sometime in the 90's when a lot of companies were being bought and sold, I think it was Pat Schroeder who said, when arguing for more government control of profits that (paraphrasing) 

companies had to learn that they were not in business to be bought and sold for profit, but to serve the American people.

People today simply don't realize that this is exactly what they are going to get with Obama and a majority liberal congress and senate.

We are soooo finished as a great country.

motherbelt,

Actually, I vaguely remember Patsy saying something along those lines.

Of course, I am old enough, barely, to remember Nixon getting hosed into price-controls. 

Don't remember much deatail about it, other than it didn't turn out well.

God, we live in profoundly ignorant times.

-Dave

Capitalism

RD, people just don't get that capitalism is the manipulation of selfish human desires to achieve ends that benefit all of humanity.  Sure, people do various activities to make a profit...but in the end wind up serving humanity in the process.

Boeing did NOT design and build the 747 Out Of The Kindnesses Of Their Hearts.

Idiots. Res tantum valorem quantum vendi potest. 

Whoever casts a vote for Obama-Biden is nothing more than a common thief.  Whoever fails to vote against them is nothing more than a moral coward.

unless of course the gov't

unless of course the gov't steps in and tells these people that they will be farmers and grocers....sounds a little like socialism....and let's not forget to spread the wealth around while we are at it

Maggie 'Chavez' Rodriguez has a point.

If I was the one setting the wadges of dumbass MSM talking heads.

Maggie "Chavez" Rodriguez

Maggie "Chavez" Rodriguez has a point.

But, as my late mother used to say....if she combs her hair right, no one will notice it.

When Noel reads this over

When Noel reads this over his morning coffee, he is going to positively have a stroke.

-Dave

Amazing, the MSM libs are

Amazing, the MSM libs are having a coming out party for Socialism. They must be convinced that the public is ready to buy into it or they know a new round of inflation is about to set in.  I suspect the latter since alternative energy and carbon caps is so expensive that in the short term they have to subsidize the cost of food somehow to blunt any opposition by the public.  The libs here want to be just like Europeans, chronic unemployment even in the good times.

Now if we only could get Obama to confess to what Maggie Rodriguez is advocating as Joe the Plumber did then we can get the real issues out on the table before the voters.  Well Ms Rodriquez, how is Socialism working for the Venezuelians under Hugo Chavez?  Price controls flopped under Nixion, they gutted the retail market under Chavez and now you want to try it again here.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.

Just like, relax, man...

I think we all need to slow down, put a flower in our hair and just  let it happen, man. I hear Joni Mitchell has a new record coming out...

The Marxists are coming!!!

"...and let's not forget to spread the wealth around while we are at it."

There won't be any wealth to spread around.

 

“I am the latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, politically correct, arrogant liberal.” --Barack Obama

excellent point...then we

excellent point...then we will have to spread the chickens around and green beans around....etc etc etc

Obama's cabinet?

Get in touch with Senator Government's campaign and get this woman a job!  What insight, what illumination on pricing! 

 As said so well in Forest Gump, "Rodriguez, you're a Gd Dmn genious!"

"What the price should be?"

Perhaps our dear dimwit should entertain the thought (however foreign the concept of thought might be to her) of employees being paid "what someone else decides is fair" rather than on what the market for her services might be.

 

Let her boss suddenly decide, "Well, my dear, I think that your salary should be adjusted downward by moving the decimal place to the left one position, it just seems right to me to do so."

 

Wonder how long that "right" decision would be accepted by our nit-of-wit media wonder?

 

 

I sympathize with her

I don't like the law of Gravity. It makes my stomach sag, my feet swell and my back hurt. I think we should outlaw it. 

"...no civilization, no matter how rich, no matter how refined, can long survive once it loses the power to meet force with equal or superior force." - Bernard Knox

Duh 101

This reminds me of the a**hole teacher who once chanted, "If you don't have enough candy for the whole classroom, you can't eat it." Here end the first rule of socialism, or as Obama Hussein calls it, "spreading the wealth."

Perhaps we should require economics as soon children learn basic math. Note to Obama: If more people are allowed to keep their OWN money they could retire sooner and this would remove competition from the job market. 

I happen to be in food distribution. We in the business held off on raising prices for too long and we took a hit. Picnics and Christmas parties have been cancelled, no new hires, or new equipment. We paid a half-million dollars more in fuel charges in 2007 from the previous year. And have had numerous tax audits (at our expense) by various government agencies since Katrina. Our prices to retailers are not based on what the goods cost at purchase, but, how much it will cost to replace them. However, because there is a great deal of competition in our business we had to wait until the big guys raised their prices, otherwise they would have taken our business with better prices. This of course doesn't please the shareholders in the short run, which causes a sell off. 

 

»→ Crash

So I guess you're the reason arugula is shooting through the roof?

I'm outraged, and if I ever find out what the heck arugula is, I'm coming after you.

Underdog & Pitbull 08

There's always iceberg lettuce and ground pepper.

The reason arugula is so high is because people like Michelle Obama order it from Waldorf Astoria room service, along with champaign and caviar.

What It Should Cost...

I'm ok with this "what things should cost" thingy.  I think a top of the line Mercedes sedan should cost, oh, I dont know - 20 bucks?  Now that I think about it, I have a right to a Mercedes sedan.  I mean other people have them like doctors and lawyers, what makes them so deserving?  I deserve a Mercedes and I'd gladly pay 20 dollars for one (title, tags and taxes extra, of course).

Can I get a job as "price setter" in an Obama administration?  Spread the wealth, Obama! 

Oh well - enough sarcasm.

My New Signature Line...

...says it all. What most people do not know and understand will cost us dearly in the years to come.

If economics is not being properly taught to "the folks," if they are indeed being taught that free market capitalism is either inherently  or by nature "evil,"  they will simply accept what Ms Rodriguez just said and falsely continue to attribute our current financial mess to that perceived "evil" and allow this country to go down the road to economic ruin through massive tax increases and increased and unproductive government spending.

--

Ignorance, our most costly commodity - paraphrased from Rush Limbaugh

If economics is not being

If economics is not being properly taught to "the folks," if they are indeed being taught that free market capitalism is either inherently  or by nature "evil,"  they will simply accept what Ms Rodriguez just said

Well sort of.  I play WOW a lot, probably too much.  But, in the game prices are fixed at NPC vendors.  But, teh problem is NPC vendors dont sell much of any value to the players.  So the players usually sell items within the game and free market capitalism abounds.  Supply and demand set prices and change quite a bit depeding on demand of course.

Some items are fairly common and prices still fluctuate but are pretty much within set parameters.  The uncommon though fetch outrageous prices due to scarcity.

I illustrate this because teh youth of today are being taught by osmosis lazafaire economics and may understand it more than you think.  But, in th real world are like everyone else and want something for nothin.  However TANSTAFL kicks in and kicks everyones rump.

Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.

Evil is actionable. Hope is a fantasy.

I have a saying, "Intelligence is artificial. Ignorance is organic." CW

Unfortunately it will be too late when people realize that the good guys in our intelligence agencies who are shortchanged by budgetary monies, which instead go to social welfares non-committed saps, will come to cost them their certain unalienable Rights. 

Wow

If groceries were priced with her method there would be massive shortages.....which is much worse.

Brainless

People diss Fox because they seem to have an overabundance of gorgeous (and mostly blonde) women on their staff, but at least the women at Fox have brains.  What's your excuse, CBS? 

When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.

Another brain dead anchor babe on CNBC

On the day of the big stock market slide the anchorbabe kept saying words to the effect now we will see if Capitalism works. In other words I got the distinct impression that she felt she was witnessing the death of Capitalism and was rather excited by the prospect. During interviews she was asking her guests the same thing. I thought she was just being a cheerleader for socialism. Of course Capitalism was working the market was going down. If it wasn't working there wouldn't be a stock market to go up or down. The economy would be a secret only known to "The Boss", his advisors and the politburo. But then again she's a babe so therefore qualified. 

"...no civilization, no matter how rich, no matter how refined, can long survive once it loses the power to meet force with equal or superior force." - Bernard Knox

Give Maggie a break.  You

Give Maggie a break.  You see, here's the thing...if the presence/absence of a morning show on CBS was based on demand (ratings) as opposed to the notion that CBS should have a morning show, Maggie Rodriguez would be out looking for a job.  This is all the economics she needs to know.

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -Ronald Reagan

fitzfong.blogspot.com

Teleprompter

I'm surprised she's smart enough to read a teleprompter. That leads to the question: Was she reading a teleprompter at the time? If yes, who wrote the comment? I think we need a Congressional hearing on this. 

That's like reading Marx to become an entrepreneur.

Hey CBS: send your

Hey CBS: send your "reporters" to a Jr. college and have them take at least Macro and/ or Micro Economics class BEFORE they get on the air and make fools out of themselves.

Just a thought.

If her point is true,

should every anchor on the MSM be paid minimum wage due to their lack of quality?

I saw this this morning

..when I was channel surfing in the breakroom at work. What a dunce. Chris Wragge made some brilliant comment too after she was done.

Just stick to the teleprompter, the traffic report and throwing it to the weatherman you dolts. When you go off track and start to pontificate, you sound like the morons you are.

This sort of thing reminds me of that old SNL sketch with Will Ferrell David Allen Grier and Cheri Oteri when the teleprompter craps out on the "Wake Up and Smile!" show and they all go crazy

:-)