the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Feb 3, 2025
The average price of a dozen large eggs skyrocketed in California in December to $8.97, from $5.68 in late November. An increase of $3.29, close to 60%!
Price increases are not natural events like rains, fires and earthquakes. Business owners, i.e., capitalists, increase prices to profit more.
The capitalists’ newspapers, like the Los Angeles Times, tell us that this extreme price increase is because of the bird flu that killed egg-laying chickens nationwide. This is hogwash.
The U.S. had 308 million commercial egg-laying hens in 2022, according to the United Egg Producers of America. The flu killed 20 million hens, according to USDA.
So, only 7% of the hens were lost but the egg price increase was 60%.
Besides, the U.S. government already allocated $1.25 billion to compensate farmers for their losses. So, the egg farmers will get paid. But, we don’t get discounts when we purchase the eggs.
Like the capitalists say, “never let a serious crisis to go to waste.” They use every occasion to increase prices and rip us off.