I can agree with you as far as saying market forces are involved. Unfortunately, the widespread industry consolidations have created monopolies and oligopolies fully capable of manipulating the markets where they operate. The numerous examples of investor calls where CEOs of these oligopoly companies brag about raising prices. Kingsford had a competitor, so they couldn't exercise market dominance the way many other industries can. And even a monopoly has an equilibrium price. It's merely higher, at a lower production level, and sustains profits at higher margins in perpetuity.

For example, I called Spectrum Cable to cancel my service because I could get it from Frontier. The customer service representative told me that since I was in an area with competition, they could reduce my rate from $80 to $45. If I had not been in a competitive area, they would have told me to pound sand. Further, it's only offered if you force them to. That's a near-monopoly price-gouging customers. Further, the idea that the government is actually regulating any of these monopolies isn't congruent with reality. Even regulated utilities find ways to jack rates and increae profits through regulatory capture.

The idea that the government over-printed money, and that is the cause of inflation, ignores the fact that this money wasn't given to people to spend, at least not here in the US. The paltry stimulus checks amounted to next to nothing. Most other first-world countries printed money and paid people as if they were still working even when they were at home. The stimulus checks here amounted to a tiny fraction of the lost income many people endured during the pandemic.

The idea that the US printed too much money is nonsense peddled by the wealthy who don't want to see even the smallest erosion of the value of their holdings through inflation. Perhaps it's 10% stimulus and 90% price gouging by over-concentrated monopolies. It's possible for us both to be correct by some percentage. I'll concede 10% if you conceded the other 90%.