Capitalists blaming “demand” for rising prices, i.e. shifting the blame from their own greed onto the shopping habits of consumers, seems like such an obvious ruse and yet we all seem to accept it.

Raising prices is a choice, nobody is making these executives choose to raise prices. The “invisible guiding hand” of the market isn't real. They're bullshitting us with their smug and cynical conceptions of “free trade.” Freedom to them means freedom to exploit us without external intervention.