Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Economy Nir Barkat met with factory owners and industrialists from the north at the "Tnuva Galil" factory/Omer Miron/L.A.M., Sound: Ben Peretz/L.A.M.
Let's talk for a moment about an ultimatum.
What is an ultimatum?
A final demand, which is not up for negotiation, depends on a fixed period of time, and at the end of it is a real threat, which will materialize if it is not carried out. It can be likened to a loaded gun that is placed on the table, a finger away from the trigger, that once the deadline expires it will be decided whether to press it or not. A tool that those who use it know that in real time they will have to go all the way.
Out of all the options before him, which were better and less binding, Economy Minister Nir Barkat chose to issue an ultimatum to the 14 food companies, who will raise the price of products in early February, like Don Corleone was. But Instead of a gun loaded with live bullets, he placed a Glock without a cartridge in front of them and expected them to panic.
The minister gave the companies 72 hours to let him know if they intended to reduce prices on products that would become more expensive during the war, and imposed the heavy penalty: "regulatory deception," which means, shaming on behalf of the state that could harm in their brand and entering a "black list" of companies.
On the face of it, this threat should have caused the companies to immediately send employees to the marketing chains, in order to extract prices from the products with their own hands. But this did not happen. Also because the Ministry of Economy did not notice that the ultimatum expired on Saturday, and Because he arrived a week after the prices had already taken effect, and the increase in price won't be returned, certainly when it was passed without consumer protest.
emerald.
A meaningless and somewhat pathetic PR campaign/Flash 90, Haim Goldberg
The "regulatory shaming" would have been brilliant, if it had been used in time.
But the Minister of Economy entered the event so late, that the train had already passed stations ahead.
Instead of Barakat attacking the merciless price gougers, at the moment when their intention to raise prices while fighting was announced, with over 300 thousand conscripted reservists, 120 thousand evacuated from their homes and hundreds of thousands of self-employed people struggling to survive, he would attack them with fury and shame them fully and in real time, he was not at the event .
When it suddenly woke up, unbearably late, a few days after the new prices were already a fact on the ground, the desperate consumers stopped hoping that someone would save them.
The ultimatum, which could have worked great before the actual price increase, became an unsuccessful joke.
Barkat issued a statement that the central company would not raise prices, even before it even announced its intention to raise them.
Salty Shamir, whose price increase was supposed to take effect at the beginning of March, was the only one that folded.
What does she care to get out well, before she started the process?
But Barkat did not let these facts confuse him, and presented them as a great success.
It filled.
But the message he released last night was shocking.
"The Minister of Economy reached broad agreements with the major bodies in the food industry," it says, "It was agreed upon to freeze future price increases, promotions on prices that have already risen and promotions on additional products."
Let's start with the future price increase.
Just a moment ago these companies raised the price outrageously, for no reason, in the middle of a war, so it will be a good few months before they raise them again, which could fall on the end of the war, if there is such a date at all.
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What exactly did the minister achieve, an empty promise?
"Offers on prices that have already gone up", is this real?
The Minister of Economy cooperates with the well-worn shtick of "specials", which preserve the high price, and do the public a favor by reducing the price for a limited time?
After all, at any given moment they can announce that "war operations are over" with plenty of excuses that the minister provided them with in his announcement, such as the lowering of the credit rating and the increase in fuel prices.
It is not clear how the Ministry of Economy lends a hand to the despicable practice of "specials" and trains them, instead of demanding what was rightly demanded, "a price reduction" in full, not "in kind".
And yes, you will be surprised, but there is such a concept in the world.
Only in the State of Israel is it assigned because of disgust.
The food companies would prefer to say anything, except that they reduced the price.
And there is also a bonus.
Not only will we receive "specials" for what just became more expensive, they will, at their discretion, give additional "specials".
Good thing they didn't agree not to reduce packaging in the meantime.
Really thanks to them and the minister.
And let's return for a moment to what we opened with, the ultimatum.
If you gave it - go to the end.
An ultimatum is not negotiated, either black or white. Once you have reached "voluntary agreements" there is no ultimatum. And don't be proud that "on the part of the private companies, this is a binding agreement that has a significant financial loss on its side, especially in view of the increase in production inputs in the economy as well as the uncertainty the economy as a result of the downgrading of the credit rating." The current price increase has already covered the future losses, remove worry from your heart.
the parade of shame
The companies didn't count Barkat/image processing, the Walla system!
And now to the blacklist.
Yes, there is one.
And it includes "companies that refused to be on the stretcher and chose to detach themselves from the stretcher, in favor of continuing to make a profit while promoting economic solidarity during the war", and it includes, among others, Vysotsky, Shastovich, Willipod and Osem.
Barkat threatens, once again, that in the coming days they will be punished, which will be detailed later.
The fact that nine out of the 14 companies didn't count him and his idle threats says it all.
To Barkat's credit, it can be said that since the formation of the government, he has tried to pass in the Settlements Law the limitation of the power of the large companies, and was stopped by the Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, who continues to put obstacles in his sincere attempts to pass the import reform, "What is good for Europe, is good for Israel ", which should bring real competition to the market and is constantly being rejected.
The inherent weakness of the Ministry of Economy, which on the one hand is supposed to fight the cost of living, and on the other hand lacks effective tools to do so, against the background of the competition authority's lack of hand and lack of cooperation on the part of the government, makes the minister's steps almost meaningless.
But if Barkat had acted in real time, and attacked and acted against the companies the price increase, he could have prevented or moderated it, and not looked like he was doing a meaningless and somewhat pathetic PR campaign with an embarrassing delay.
More on the same topic:
Nir Barkat
Cost of living
the food companies
price increases
supermarket