A new report from progressive UK.-based think-tanks IPPR and Common Wealth says profiteering played a major role in jacking up prices far above the rise in costs, reinforcing a previous but narrower study showing such an impact. Among other things, the researchers called for a global corporation tax to curtail unrestrained profits...
Giant energy companies, mining companies, and monopolistic food companies all saw their profits leap ahead of inflation after the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The report noted, “Because energy and food prices feed so significantly into costs across all sectors of the wider economy, this exacerbated the initial price shock—contributing to inflation peaking higher and lasting longer than had there been less market power.”
Technology companies, telecommunications, and banking also raised their profit margins with big price hikes. “Such companies have been able to protect their profit margins or even increase them, generating excess profits through a combination of high market power and global market dynamics,” the report said. - Daily Kos
Monday, December 11, 2023
Profiteering is indeed a big part of inflation
Actually, you'd have had to be awfully gullible to ever believe that it was all about "market forces."
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Comment from Anonymous: Side comment : No doubt that corporations are making more money (as are shareholders ... i.e. Exxon-Mobil just raised their recent payout 4.4%), but I wonder if part of the reason why we are paying more for products is because we are manufacturing more products within the United States. Under Biden's watch, the number of Americans working in manufacturing is hoovering around 13 million ... the best Trump ever got was 12.8 ... which crashed down to 11.4 during the pandemic ... so it might be easy to say that all the jobs cam back, but I wonder if a company could use the pandemic to shutdown US factories and move jobs overseas for cheaper labor ... and instead stayed hear to avoid supply chain issues and are now willing to pay more to make products here ... and raising the cost for consumers.
ReplyDeleteThat said, everything is relative everybody notices the price at the gas pump -- especially when it is up .... and they complain about through their 'Let's Go, Brandon' chants at a Morgan Wallen concert (did you know that Wallen grossed $260 million in tour sales dollars https://www.billboard.com/lists/top-country-tours-2023/morgan-wallen-5/).
If the economy is so bad, and inflation is making life impossible, wouldn't the concert tickets be the first thing you would cut ?
Yeah, we may be paying more (and may be earning more including via dividends and social security checks), and notice it ... so how can we educate people that things are really good economically in America when the Republicans and their media and think tanks are constantly blaming Biden for everything ?
BTW ... the stock market closed today at another record high ... and my bride's little hobby business has had her best quarter ever ... and she sells things that nobody needs but people buy 'em.