The Price Pivot

The joke is the pivot: sell Americans on cheaper groceries, then grin like the markup was the master plan all along. That’s not an economic policy; that’s a checkout-line confidence scam with a flag pin on it. Promise the pain goes away, then applaud when the pain gets a press team.

Justin Jest has seen this movie in a billionaires’ newsroom with the lights off and the coffee gone feral. The ordinary shopper still has to choose between milk and manners, while the power brokers call the higher bill a sign of strength. If your affordability pitch turns into “be grateful for the receipt,” the only thing that came down was your honesty.