The Reasons for the High Cost of Living

When it rains, you're told that everything is expensive because the celestial downpours compromise crops and significantly hamper field work. When the sun shines and it's hot, prices rise under the pretext that the sun burns everything, the earth is parched, and nothing grows anymore. And the dismayed consumer wonders when the weather will be favorable for a price drop.
And he turns to the authorities to ask for their protection, to save his wallet, which is becoming alarmingly depleted. Then the authorities seem to want to act. They announce measures against those responsible for the high cost of living. They appoint high commissioners, even food dictators... and prices continue to rise.

As we were highlighting consumers' justified grievances to a merchant, the latter provided us with the following simplistic explanation:
"If we took the trouble to think a little, we would understand that the cost of living cannot fall and that managers are the first to refuse to act in favor of a reduction. Indeed, the day the cost of things dropped significantly, taxes would follow the same path: tax on commercial profits, sales tax, etc., etc. And since expenses would remain the same, the deficit would only be even more significant. You can see that the public authorities have no interest in making life easier." And as we raised a few objections, our interlocutor added:
"Obviously, this is a dangerous game. It's as if a mechanic, to obtain more steam and therefore more pressure, blocked the safety valve of his boiler." Certainly, the pressure would increase, but at some point, the boiler would burst, causing more or less damage. The comparison is not without relevance. It was worth noting.