by Karl Denninger, Market Ticker:

Gee, you’ll save lots at Whole Paycheck if you have a PRIME membership after we close the transaction was the claim.

Uh, nope.

Despite the Amazon hype, prices in Whole Foods’ 490 stores across the country — even after shoppers pony up cash for the Prime discount — come down by just $1.54 on a $400 basket of groceries, according to the report.

Customers could be forgiven for thinking prices have been cut further — as Whole Foods stores are chockablock with signs proclaiming, “Prime members now save even more.”

Of course the Prime Membership isn’t free — it’s $119 a year.  Spend $119 to “save” $1.54 eh?  Sounds like a great deal.

So is there any penalty for lying like this?

Obviously not.

But there is supposed to be a penalty for monopoly behavior, including cross-subsidization and false claims.  The FTC is supposed to take care of the latter and 15 USC Chapter 1, which carries felony criminal penalties for Executives, Directors and Officers, is supposed to take care of the former.

Of course that would assume that someone actually gives a damn and will enforce the law.

Which they don’t, at either Federal or State (each of which have similar statutes) level.

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