berg80
Diamond Member
- Oct 28, 2017
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"Conventional wisdom" may be a term that's too innocuous. Cuz, you know, few if any beliefs adopted by the Right these days can be described as wise. I'm not speaking of all folks who fall under the umbrella of the Right. More specifically, it's those who used to be on the fringe and are now what can fairly be called mainstream conservatives. The ones who will reflexively dismiss the following study because it's a square peg that doesn't fit in the round hole labeled "It's All Biden's Fault."
LONDON — Major companies in the energy and food sectors amplified inflation in 2022 by passing on greater cost increases than needed to protect margins, according to a new report.
British think tanks the Institute For Public Policy Research and Common Wealth said in a report Thursday that big firms made inflation “peak higher and remain more persistent,” particularly within the oil and gas, food production and commodities sectors.
“We argue that market power by some corporations and in some sectors – including temporary market power emerging in the aftermath of the pandemic – amplified inflation,” the report said.
The author’s analysis of financial reports from 1,350 companies listed in the U.K., U.S., Germany, Brazil and South Africa found nominal profits were on average 30% higher at the end of 2022 than at the end of 2019.
This does not necessarily mean that overall profit margins have risen, but it does mean that higher prices have been shouldered by consumers, the authors said.
www.cnbc.com
For the "It's All Biden's Fault" crowd Joe gets the blame for the post Ukraine invasion oil price spike but not record US oil production playing a role, however small, in me paying $2.55 at the pump in CO yesterday. They don't want to consider the massive supply chain disruptions from said invasion and COVID as contributors to inflation. Or the Fed's misread of what it thought was transitory inflation causing them to wait too long to initiate the tightening cycle resulting in a parabolic rise in interest rates. Because none of that fits in the round hole either. Political expediency calls for them not to examine factors other than government spending to make up for the affects of COVID. The view from the intellectual hidey hole in which they sit precludes an appreciation of nuance, complexity, while encouraging simplistic thinking. For them, all roads lead to Biden when it comes to any of the nation's ills.
‘Excess profits’ at big energy and consumer companies pushed up inflation, report claims
LONDON — Major companies in the energy and food sectors amplified inflation in 2022 by passing on greater cost increases than needed to protect margins, according to a new report.
British think tanks the Institute For Public Policy Research and Common Wealth said in a report Thursday that big firms made inflation “peak higher and remain more persistent,” particularly within the oil and gas, food production and commodities sectors.
“We argue that market power by some corporations and in some sectors – including temporary market power emerging in the aftermath of the pandemic – amplified inflation,” the report said.
The author’s analysis of financial reports from 1,350 companies listed in the U.K., U.S., Germany, Brazil and South Africa found nominal profits were on average 30% higher at the end of 2022 than at the end of 2019.
This does not necessarily mean that overall profit margins have risen, but it does mean that higher prices have been shouldered by consumers, the authors said.
'Excess profits' at big energy and consumer companies pushed up inflation, report claims
The report identified Shell, Exxon Mobil, Glencore and Kraft Heinz as among the firms that saw profits "far outpace" inflation.
www.cnbc.com
For the "It's All Biden's Fault" crowd Joe gets the blame for the post Ukraine invasion oil price spike but not record US oil production playing a role, however small, in me paying $2.55 at the pump in CO yesterday. They don't want to consider the massive supply chain disruptions from said invasion and COVID as contributors to inflation. Or the Fed's misread of what it thought was transitory inflation causing them to wait too long to initiate the tightening cycle resulting in a parabolic rise in interest rates. Because none of that fits in the round hole either. Political expediency calls for them not to examine factors other than government spending to make up for the affects of COVID. The view from the intellectual hidey hole in which they sit precludes an appreciation of nuance, complexity, while encouraging simplistic thinking. For them, all roads lead to Biden when it comes to any of the nation's ills.
