THERE THEY GO AGAIN.

If you're a Democrat, you find it more convenient to abuse the people who are working to provide people with stuff than to work the problem.

The Federal Trade Commission said Monday that it is investigating the causes behind ongoing supply chain disruptions and how they are "causing serious and ongoing hardships for consumers and harming competition in the U.S. economy."

The FTC said it is ordering Walmart, Amazon, Kroger, other large wholesalers and suppliers including Procter & Gamble Co., Tyson Foods and Kraft Heinz Co. “to turn over information to help study causes of empty shelves and sky-high prices.”

Orders also are being sent to C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc., Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. and McLane Co, Inc.

Pay no attention to those jammed ports or to those shortages of truck drivers (which precede the corona tyranny)!  It's clearly capitalists who don't want to waste a crisis.

The FTC said the companies are required to “detail the primary factors disrupting their ability to obtain, transport and distribute their products; the impact these disruptions are having in terms of delayed and canceled orders, increased costs and prices; the products, suppliers and inputs most affected; and the steps the companies are taking to alleviate disruptions; and how they allocate products among their stores when they are in short supply.”

Companies also are required to provide the FTC with "internal documents regarding the supply chain disruptions, including strategies related to supply chains; pricing; marketing and promotions; costs, profit margins and sales volumes; selection of suppliers and brands; and market shares."

Ultimately, the Commission is protecting competitors, not necessarily competition.

The National Grocers Association (NGA), which represents the independent supermarket industry and its wholesalers, said in a statement Tuesday that it was pleased to see the FTC move forward with the study.

“This study is a key first step in promoting competition in the food supply chain,” Chris Jones, NGA senior vice president of government relations and counsel, said in the statement. “It will shine a light on what our members already know: that dominant grocery power buyers are using their size to demand better terms, better prices, and better products from suppliers, leaving their competitors and American consumers to pay the bill.”

Jones said the actions “leave independent grocers short-handed on key products their customers need and force small, independent grocers and their customers to bear a disproportionate burden of surging food price inflation during supply chain crunches.”

Long ago, Robert Bork wrote, "Superior efficiency is not popular with those who must compete against it, and it is never well understood by policy makers." Joe Biden was instrumental in keeping Mr Bork off the high bench.