No guess at all: because people as a group opt to just pay instead of refuse to pay… rewarding price hikes, leading to “another record quarter for revenue and profit.”
While people choose to keep rolling over and just pay more, prices will keep rising. Sellers happily take more and more money if people keep swapping it for their products or services. Griping & whining doesn't do a thing, the FED can only put some pinch on spending on credit, etc. People as a group have to tangibly illustrate they value their hard-earned cash and future cash (otherwise known as credit) MORE than what is being offered at inflated prices. Else, it’s only a win for sellers to charge more, more, more… because people will pay it.
Most simply: consumers seem to have forgotten about their great (collective) power to say “NO!” Until they re-learn it or have it forced upon them by prices rising so high they simply can't find any way to "just pay"... inflation roars on, hunting for that "maximize revenue & profit" target right at the edge of what people will/can pay.
In short: we're doing it to ourselves by clearly showing we don't value our own money enough to choose the other option: NOT buying.
