Profiteering

Profiteering is a pejorative term for the act of making a profit by methods considered unethical.[1][2]^[page needed]

Overview

Business owners may be accused of profiteering when they raise prices during an emergency (especially a war).[3]^[page needed] The term is also applied to businesses that play on political corruption to obtain government contracts.

Some types of profiteering are illegal, such as price fixing[4]^[page needed] syndicates, for example on fuel subsidies (see British Airways price-fixing allegations), and other anti-competitive behaviour. Some are restricted by industry codes of conduct, e.g. aggressive marketing of products in the Third World such as baby milk (see Nestlé boycott).

Types of profiteering

• Price fixing
• Price gouging
• War profiteering

Laws

Profiteering is illegal in several countries, including but not limited to:

• UK: Chapter 1 of the Competition Act 1998
• Germany: § 291 StGB (Criminal Code) – up to 10 years' jail maximum penalty
• Austria: § 154 StGB – up to 5 years' jail maximum penalty

See also

• Enshittification
• Hoarding (economics)
• Business ethics
• Price gouging
• Product sabotage
• Rent seeking
• Supracompetitive pricing
• Ticket scalping
• Usury

Example cases

• British Airways price-fixing allegations

References

1. "Profiteering". Oxford Learners Dictionaries.
2. Ray, S. K. (2004). Polity And Economy Of The Underworld. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-8120325777.
3. Hughes, Solomon (2007). War on Terror, Inc: corporate profiteering from the politics of fear. Verso. ISBN 978-1844671236.
4. Neuwirth, Robert (2011). Stealth of Nations: The Global Rise of the Informal Economy. Random House Digital, Inc. ISBN 978-0307906809.