Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,934
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,934
Robust holiday shopping sends economy soaring into 2024 By Rachel Siegel and Aaron Gregg December 26, 2023 at 16:21 ET They bought books and coats, fancy dinners and plane tickets. And as 2023 comes to a close, holiday shoppers offered yet another sign that the U.S. economy will roar into the new year. On Tuesday, fresh retail sales data from Mastercard showed that consumers spent big on gifts, meals and apparel in November and December despite inflation’s lingering bite. Add on strong consumer confidence, and the S&P 500’s approaching an all-time high, and it’s clear that the U.S. economy is in a far better place than just about anyone expected, zapping any hints of a recession and bolstering hope that people will keep opening their wallets in 2024. “Given the significant uplifts in holiday sales over the past couple of years, and the current pressures on consumer finances, this level of growth can be chalked up as something of a win for consumers,” said Neil Saunders, managing director for retail at GlobalData. [Biden’s economy vs. Trump’s, in 12 charts] U.S. retail sales between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24 were up 3.1 percent compared with the same period a year before, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which measures sales in-store and online across various forms of payment. Online shopping accounted for a large share of the increase, rising 6.3 percent, compared with a 2.2 percent jump for in-person shopping. Apparel sales rose 2.4 percent. Plus, strong demand for in-person dining powered a 7.8 percent jump in restaurant spending. Some categories showed declines: Jewelry sales, for example, fell 2 percent, while electronics declined 0.4 percent. (The overall report excludes car sales and is not controlled for inflation.) [U.S. adds jobs in November as labor market remains slow but steady] The cheery holiday report was expected, building on a strong summer and third quarter, when the economy grew like gangbusters. Sales on Black Friday set a record of $9.8 billion, up 7.5 percent from the year before. Cyber Monday came in even higher at $12.4 billion, according to Adobe Analytics.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Chart of the Week: Carrier Details Total Trucking Authorities, Outbound Tender Volume Index – USA SONAR:CDTTA.USA, OTVI.USA
Trucking
demand is up while capacity is down since this time last year. This
statement by itself means that the transportation market is healthier,
but it also suggests that 2024 should be better in aggregate as the gap
between supply and demand narrows quickly.
Truckload
demand is barely a shadow of what it was during the pandemic, but it
has been growing throughout most of 2023. This fact has been invisible
to most carriers and 3PLs, which continue to deal with a massive glut of
oversupplied capacity thanks to a record number of entrants in 2020-21
according to Carrier Details Total Trucking Authorities data set.
Tender
volumes are averaging over 10% higher year over year this December and
have been growing steadily since last winter. Outside of October, daily
tender volumes moved higher, suggesting that economic demand for goods
has grown.
On this past week’s Freightonomics episode, Zac Rogers, an associate professor of supply chain management at Colorado State and co-author of the Logistics Managers’ Index
(LMI), suggested that the demand growth was a product of both
inventories having been rightsized versus this time last year and growth
in consumption.
While
he admits that there is some ongoing concern about consumer health, the
numbers are what they are. Anthony Smith, FreightWaves’ chief
economist, responded to his concerns with a resounding “never bet
against the American consumer.”
Possibly
the most shocking revelation was in the LMI outlook of transportation
prices by respondents. The LMI is divided up into multiple measures of
logistics activity such as transportation and warehousing prices and
capacity. Values above 50 indicate expansion while values below 50 are
contractionary.
The
transportation pricing component has averaged a value of 38 in 2023 and
has been showing below 50 since the summer of 2022. Respondents to the
November survey showed a reading of around 64 for prices in 2024,
indicating that most expect rates to have bottomed.
While
every forecast is an opinion on some level, the data does suggest that
the supply of capacity and demand for its use is moving back toward
equilibrium at a relatively fast clip.
Looking
at the past 13 years of Carrier Details Total Trucking Authorities
data, there has never been such a strong downward trend. This of course
is following the historic growth rate — the definition of an economic bubble.
FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller stated in this past week’s State of Freight
webinar that the risk is growing for shippers in 2024. Taking an overly
aggressive approach to cost cutting would be much more risky than last
year. No capacity is guaranteed. Even the strongest carriers feel this
level of market downturn.
While
Fuller admitted that he does not definitively know that the market will
turn, there are several LMI respondents that feel similarly that there
will be noticeable signs of tightening by the end of next year.
Economically
speaking, there are still questions, but the answers are coming into
focus with time. At the very least, the U.S. has economically
overachieved versus many expectations, which does provide hope for the
“soft landing” many have wanted.
Unfortunately,
the solution to the freight market means that several first have to
lose. This has been the case for many sectors post-pandemic. But this
too is passing.
About the Chart of the Week
The FreightWaves Chart of the Week is a chart selection from SONAR that
provides an interesting data point to describe the state of the freight
markets. A chart is chosen from thousands of potential charts on SONAR to
help participants visualize the freight market in real time. Each week a
Market Expert will post a chart, along with commentary, live on the
front page. After that, the Chart of the Week will be archived on
FreightWaves.com for future reference.
SONAR
aggregates data from hundreds of sources, presenting the data in charts
and maps and providing commentary on what freight market experts want
to know about the industry in real time.
The FreightWaves data science and product teams are releasing new datasets each week and enhancing the client experience.
Zach Strickland, the “Sultan of SONAR,” curates the weekly market
update. Zach is also one of FreightWaves’ Market Experts. With a degree
in Finance, Strickland spent the early part of his career in banking
before transitioning to transportation in various roles and segments,
such as truckload and LTL. He has over 13 years of transportation
experience, specializing in data, pricing, and analytics.
So this means that America is still not building things and importing at the same time we are still consuming?
for that question, you'd need to look at port traffic volume, then look at the transportation capacity in that sector.
I see more and more warehouse space going up and have since before the pandemic.
cant tell though if this comment was sarcastic or not. but benefit of the doubt, how quickly do you believe manufacturing comes back from announcing the admin push for it to production lines starting?
Tongue in cheek comment.
That being said, we are making what, 5 chip making plants here in the US?
If we could start up manufacturing again on a bigger scale this country would be a big boom for all over.
U say warehouse space. I see storage units and Amazon hubs all over. My dream to open a storage facility is all but gone now. I missed that boat...
LI right? How much residential development is happening? especially apartments?
if thats still a goal , suggest looking at smaller but expanding markets that are building out. Ohio as an example. Specifically Columbus and Deleware to our north. still farmland up for development for retail and mixed residential . And all that goes with it. Like storage......
and farther east from us surrounding the intel plant going up. City of Columbus is now growing outside of Franklin County
In the last 5 years a huge complex has been made in the surrounding towns w a super block opening up here in Long Beach soon. They are very high priced though. Houses arent being built in complexes anymore, only condo developments. Most if not all are for rent too, not for sale.
Long Beach has become a new destination besides the Hamptons. The rich NYers realized they can save 2 hours of driving by coming here... It sucks.
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,934
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,934
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Share the following with him but I doubt, for some reason, that he’ll comprehend it. A year and an half old but it explains the forces at play at the time.
The inflation spike of 2021 and 2022 has presented real policy challenges. In order to better understand this policy debate, it is imperative to look at prices and how they are being affected.
The price of just about everything in the U.S. economy can be broken down into the three main components of cost. These include labor costs, nonlabor inputs, and the “mark-up” of profits over the first two components. Good data on these separate cost components exist for the nonfinancial corporate (NFC) sector—those companies that produce goods and services—of the economy, which makes up roughly 75% of the entire private sector.
Since the trough of the COVID-19 recession in the second quarter of 2020, overall prices in the NFC sector have risen at an annualized rate of 6.1%—a pronounced acceleration over the 1.8% price growth that characterized the pre-pandemic business cycle of 2007–2019. Strikingly, over half of this increase (53.9%) can be attributed to fatter profit margins, with labor costs contributing less than 8% of this increase. This is not normal. From 1979 to 2019, profits only contributed about 11% to price growth and labor costs over 60%, as shown in Figure A below. Nonlabor inputs—a decent indicator for supply-chain snarls—are also driving up prices more than usual in the current economic recovery.
In previous recoveries, domestic demand growth was slow and unemployment was high in the early phases of recovery. This led firms to become desperate for more customers but also gave them the upper hand in negotiating with potential employees, which led to subdued price growth and wage suppression.
This time around, the pandemic drove demand through the roof in durable sectors and employment has rebounded rapidly, but the bottleneck in meeting this demand on the supply side was largely notlabor. Instead, it was shipping capacity and other nonlabor shortages. Firms that did happen to have supply on hand as the pandemic-driven demand surge hit had enormous pricing power vis-à-vis their customers.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
During Trump and covid was NOT the time to be opening a business though...
These little tidbits are interesting but misleading.
POOTWH took office in January 2017 and the twit referenced October 2019. Covid shut downs began in March 2020. How are “those little tidbits interesting but ‘misleading’?”
On Thursday, the White House announced that the past three years have seen an unprecedented number ... [+]
GETTY
By: Rhett Buttle
A sure sign of the direction of the economy is the number of small businesses opening. On Thursday, the White House announced that the past three years have seen an unprecedented number of entrepreneurs open up shop in their homes and Main Streets across America.
“Every time someone starts a new small business, it’s an act of hope and confidence in our economy,” said President Joe Biden in a statement. “Today, we learned that Americans filed 16 million new business applications during the first three years of my Administration—16 million acts of hope, the strongest stretch on record.”
The U.S. Census Bureau has been tracking business formation statistics since 2004 and the data released on Thursday showed that the nearly 16 million new recorded business applications since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration represent an approximately 85% increase in the average flow of monthly applications relative to the period between 2004 and January 2021. In fact, the monthly average of 440,000 new business applications over the past three years is 46% higher than the average of 2017 through 2020 combined.
Keith Hall, President and CEO of the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), the nation’s leading advocate and resource for the self-employed and micro-business community, said, “The consistent, record-shattering rate of small businesses surging throughout the nation is great news for not only our community, but also our local and national economy.”
“As the country continues to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic and recovers from recent economic volatility, we applaud the courage and grit of all new business owners, especially Black, Hispanic, AAPI, Native, and other business owners who continue to make entrepreneurial leaps in the face of adversity,” said Ying McGuire, CEO and President, National Minority Supplier Development Council. “The resilience displayed by these leaders highlights the spirit of America, and creates new economic opportunities and pathways for success not just for them, but for their communities and the whole country.”
The increase in growth in entrepreneurship has been particularly high among women, Latinos, and Black Americans. Black business ownership is growing at the fastest pace in 30 years with the share of Black households owning a business more than doubling from 5% to 11% between 2019 and 2022. In addition, Latino business ownership rose from 7% to 10% between 2019 and 2022, the fastest pace in more than a decade. However, the greatest growth can arguably be seen in the number of women-owned businesses, as the rate from 2019 to 2023 was 94% greater than the growth of men-owned businesses.
“The President’s announcement of a record 16 million new small businesses in the last three years is a signal that the US economy is working for entrepreneurs, and in turn, that business owners have confidence in the economy,” said Chiling Tong, President and CEO of the National Asian Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE). “AAPI businesses have benefited from a stronger economy, with over 2.91 million AAPI owned businesses and counting, fueling job creation and economic growth in their communities.”
“More Americans than ever are pursuing their dreams of business ownership as the rate of new business applications filed and establishments under President Biden continues to surge,” said U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman. “In the last year alone, Americans across the country and in a wide range of industries filed a record five and a half million new business applications, bringing the total number under this Administration to a record-breaking 16 million. America’s great diversity continues to propel entrepreneurship with Black, Latino, and women founders starting up at higher rates than ever. As we enter 2024, the SBA will continue its work to increase access to the resources needed to start and grow resilient new businesses, harnessing the unique optimism and ingenuity of American entrepreneurs.”
While there are many factors for this unprecedented growth, there is a general feeling among small business owners that it would not have happened through laissez-faire capitalism. It appears that the initiatives of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America Agenda are lifting up small businesses across the country.
“Policies like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act advance this positive momentum. The $400 billion in investments in all 50 states announced so far, creates ample new opportunities for small businesses while repairing our nation's roads and bridges and strengthening our supply chains,” said Small Business for America’s Future Co-chair Walt Rowen, who is also President of Susquehanna Glass Company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
This growth is connected to other positive aspects with our economy, including 14 million new jobs over the last three years and an unemployment rate that has been below 4% for the longest stretch in more than 50 years. As we kick off 2024, a primary focus for our country should be to build on these successes.
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,934
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
On Thursday, the White House announced that the past three years have seen an unprecedented number ... [+]
GETTY
By: Rhett Buttle
A sure sign of the direction of the economy is the number of small businesses opening. On Thursday, the White House announced that the past three years have seen an unprecedented number of entrepreneurs open up shop in their homes and Main Streets across America.
“Every time someone starts a new small business, it’s an act of hope and confidence in our economy,” said President Joe Biden in a statement. “Today, we learned that Americans filed 16 million new business applications during the first three years of my Administration—16 million acts of hope, the strongest stretch on record.”
The U.S. Census Bureau has been tracking business formation statistics since 2004 and the data released on Thursday showed that the nearly 16 million new recorded business applications since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration represent an approximately 85% increase in the average flow of monthly applications relative to the period between 2004 and January 2021. In fact, the monthly average of 440,000 new business applications over the past three years is 46% higher than the average of 2017 through 2020 combined.
Keith Hall, President and CEO of the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), the nation’s leading advocate and resource for the self-employed and micro-business community, said, “The consistent, record-shattering rate of small businesses surging throughout the nation is great news for not only our community, but also our local and national economy.”
“As the country continues to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic and recovers from recent economic volatility, we applaud the courage and grit of all new business owners, especially Black, Hispanic, AAPI, Native, and other business owners who continue to make entrepreneurial leaps in the face of adversity,” said Ying McGuire, CEO and President, National Minority Supplier Development Council. “The resilience displayed by these leaders highlights the spirit of America, and creates new economic opportunities and pathways for success not just for them, but for their communities and the whole country.”
The increase in growth in entrepreneurship has been particularly high among women, Latinos, and Black Americans. Black business ownership is growing at the fastest pace in 30 years with the share of Black households owning a business more than doubling from 5% to 11% between 2019 and 2022. In addition, Latino business ownership rose from 7% to 10% between 2019 and 2022, the fastest pace in more than a decade. However, the greatest growth can arguably be seen in the number of women-owned businesses, as the rate from 2019 to 2023 was 94% greater than the growth of men-owned businesses.
“The President’s announcement of a record 16 million new small businesses in the last three years is a signal that the US economy is working for entrepreneurs, and in turn, that business owners have confidence in the economy,” said Chiling Tong, President and CEO of the National Asian Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE). “AAPI businesses have benefited from a stronger economy, with over 2.91 million AAPI owned businesses and counting, fueling job creation and economic growth in their communities.”
“More Americans than ever are pursuing their dreams of business ownership as the rate of new business applications filed and establishments under President Biden continues to surge,” said U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman. “In the last year alone, Americans across the country and in a wide range of industries filed a record five and a half million new business applications, bringing the total number under this Administration to a record-breaking 16 million. America’s great diversity continues to propel entrepreneurship with Black, Latino, and women founders starting up at higher rates than ever. As we enter 2024, the SBA will continue its work to increase access to the resources needed to start and grow resilient new businesses, harnessing the unique optimism and ingenuity of American entrepreneurs.”
While there are many factors for this unprecedented growth, there is a general feeling among small business owners that it would not have happened through laissez-faire capitalism. It appears that the initiatives of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America Agenda are lifting up small businesses across the country.
“Policies like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act advance this positive momentum. The $400 billion in investments in all 50 states announced so far, creates ample new opportunities for small businesses while repairing our nation's roads and bridges and strengthening our supply chains,” said Small Business for America’s Future Co-chair Walt Rowen, who is also President of Susquehanna Glass Company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
This growth is connected to other positive aspects with our economy, including 14 million new jobs over the last three years and an unemployment rate that has been below 4% for the longest stretch in more than 50 years. As we kick off 2024, a primary focus for our country should be to build on these successes.
Fucking dems. Chaos agents and all, and like the border, nothing is getting done.
During Trump and covid was NOT the time to be opening a business though...
These little tidbits are interesting but misleading.
POOTWH took office in January 2017 and the twit referenced October 2019. Covid shut downs began in March 2020. How are “those little tidbits interesting but ‘misleading’?”
I'm way off on this one. A spike occurred during the pandemic for new business' wow. Brick and mortar closed while home shops opened.
During Trump and covid was NOT the time to be opening a business though...
These little tidbits are interesting but misleading.
POOTWH took office in January 2017 and the twit referenced October 2019. Covid shut downs began in March 2020. How are “those little tidbits interesting but ‘misleading’?”
I'm way off on this one. A spike occurred during the pandemic for new business' wow. Brick and mortar closed while home shops opened.
I didn't see that one at all.
The comparative from X was October 2019 vs Oct 2022. No effect from Covid in either window.
During Trump and covid was NOT the time to be opening a business though...
These little tidbits are interesting but misleading.
POOTWH took office in January 2017 and the twit referenced October 2019. Covid shut downs began in March 2020. How are “those little tidbits interesting but ‘misleading’?”
I'm way off on this one. A spike occurred during the pandemic for new business' wow. Brick and mortar closed while home shops opened.
I didn't see that one at all.
The comparative from X was October 2019 vs Oct 2022. No effect from Covid in either window.
Well if u look at the chart for it there is a HUGE drop beginning of covid and then a HUGE spike during. Again, I didn't see that coming as I watched many brick and mortar business' fail.
During Trump and covid was NOT the time to be opening a business though...
These little tidbits are interesting but misleading.
POOTWH took office in January 2017 and the twit referenced October 2019. Covid shut downs began in March 2020. How are “those little tidbits interesting but ‘misleading’?”
I'm way off on this one. A spike occurred during the pandemic for new business' wow. Brick and mortar closed while home shops opened.
I didn't see that one at all.
The comparative from X was October 2019 vs Oct 2022. No effect from Covid in either window.
I’m thinking it’s comparing the same two periods of time, from inauguration day to October two years later. 1/20/2017 to 10/31/2019 versus 1/20/2021 to 10/31/2023.
We were told, repeatedly, that POOTWH’s tax cuts would trickle down and pay for themselves with 4% GDP growth, year over year, quarter over quarter, for 10 years. It’s a comparison of two economic visions and their respective results. Covid shouldn’t even be part of the conversation as it hadn’t occurred yet. Unless folks with Q knowledge knew about Covid before hand and sat on their ideas and money or had no faith in the future.
The Juggler
Behind that bush over there. Posts: 47,334
I wonder if a lot of these new businesses have been opened by a lot of the same people who some said over and over and over again that they "just didn't want to work" during covid? Perhaps they transitioned to becoming their own bosses. Either way, this is welcomed news.
I wonder if a lot of these new businesses have been opened by a lot of the same people who some said over and over and over again that they "just didn't want to work" during covid? Perhaps they transitioned to becoming their own bosses. Either way, this is welcomed news.
I opened up a business during this time too, albeit a small one, but I did.
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The Juggler
Behind that bush over there. Posts: 47,334
Half of recent US inflation due to high corporate profits, report finds
Thinktank report says ‘resounding evidence’ shows companies continue to keep prices high even as their inflationary costs drop
A new report claims “resounding evidence” shows that high corporate profits are a main driver of ongoing inflation, and companies continue to keep prices high even as their inflationary costs drop.
The report, compiled by the progressive Groundwork Collaborative thinktank, found corporate profits accounted for about 53% of inflation during last year’s second and third quarters. Profits drove just 11% of price growth in the 40 years prior to the pandemic, according to the report.
Prices for consumers rose by 3.4% over the past year, but input costs for producers increased by just 1%, according to the authors’ calculations which were based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and National Income and Products Accounts.
“Costs have come down substantially, and while corporations were quick to pass on their increased costs to consumers, they are surprisingly less quick to pass on their savings to consumers,” Liz Pancotti, a Groundwork strategic advisor and paper co-author, told the Guardian.
Since pandemic inflation spiked in 2021, a high-stakes debate has played out about its sources. Many progressive economists pointed to corporate profits – or “greedflation” – and supply chain issues as a driver of high prices, while their more conservative counterparts singled out government stimulus cash and high wages.
The report’s authors scoured corporate earnings calls and found executives bragging to shareholders about keeping prices high and widening profit margins as input costs come down.
The findings come as the Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates to their highest point in 20 years. The report casts serious doubt on the need for further interest rate hikes, and instead calls for stronger policies to rein in “corporate profiteering”.
Prices rose in 2021 as labor costs jumped and supply chain shocks from the pandemic and the Ukraine war snarled shipping traffic and left energy supplies in question. But those issues have in many cases been fully sorted out or are easing, and the labor market has stabilized. Many commodities and services producers’ prices have actually decreased, the report notes.
Nearly 60% of the drop in key goods and services’ inputs was driven by large declines in energy costs, such as jet fuel and diesel fuel, while transportation and warehousing costs have fallen by nearly 4% since June 2022 peaks.
Still, prices remain high. Consumers are still paying about 25% more for groceries, the report notes as an example.
Corporations maintain high prices by exploiting cost shocks caused by events like the Ukraine war and coordinating price hikes, said Isabella Weber, a University of Massachusetts Amherst economist who was not part of the paper.
The shocks create an environment in which it is safe for firms to increase prices as they expect their competitors to do the same, said Weber.
“This is a form of implicit collusion,” she said. “Firms do not even need to talk to one another to know that a cost shock is a great time to raise prices. But when costs fall, price setting firms do not have any incentive to decrease prices.”
If no firms launch a price war, Weber added, then companies “hold the line” on prices and widen margins. She pointed to food processors as an example.
The paper zooms in on the diaper industry, of which Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark control 70% of the domestic market. Diaper prices have increased by more than 30% since 2019 from, on average, $16.50 to nearly $22.
The rise was partly driven by an increase in commodities like wood pulp, a major component of diapers. Wholesale wood pulp prices soared by 87% between January 2021 and January 2023, but last year prices dropped by 25%.
Still, diaper prices have not come down with lower costs, the authors say. Groundwork examined earnings calls and found executives at both companies boasting of widening profit margins as input costs decreased. A drop in inputs accounted for about one third of Kimberly Clark’s profits, company executives said.
P&G executives said in their July earnings call they expect $800m in windfall profits because of declining input costs, suggesting they won’t bring down prices.
Meanwhile, workers aren’t faring as well – corporate profits as a share of national income are up by about 29%, and workers’ share of corporate earnings is still down from pre-pandemic levels.
The Biden administration has taken steps to strengthen supply chains, Pancotti noted, and Joe Biden recently called on corporations to stop “gouging” consumers as input costs fall. But she and Weber called for stronger action, pointing to other nations with forms of price control in place.
In France, the government intervenes in price negotiations among retailers and producers. Earlier this month, with the government’s support, the supermarket chain Carrefour banned some PepsiCo products from its shelves because of “unacceptable price increases”.
Absent strong government intervention in pricing, the 2025 expiration of the Trump corporate tax cuts presents an opportunity to rein in corporations via the tax code, Pancotti said.
“We’ve decided as a country that we like to have very large, powerful corporations and we are OK with them being very profitable,” she said. “We need to take a really hard look at how our tax code incentivizes corporate profiteering and ask: ‘Do we as a country want to do something about that?’”
Half of recent US inflation due to high corporate profits, report finds
Thinktank report says ‘resounding evidence’ shows companies continue to keep prices high even as their inflationary costs drop
A new report claims “resounding evidence” shows that high corporate profits are a main driver of ongoing inflation, and companies continue to keep prices high even as their inflationary costs drop.
The report, compiled by the progressive Groundwork Collaborative thinktank, found corporate profits accounted for about 53% of inflation during last year’s second and third quarters. Profits drove just 11% of price growth in the 40 years prior to the pandemic, according to the report.
Prices for consumers rose by 3.4% over the past year, but input costs for producers increased by just 1%, according to the authors’ calculations which were based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and National Income and Products Accounts.
“Costs have come down substantially, and while corporations were quick to pass on their increased costs to consumers, they are surprisingly less quick to pass on their savings to consumers,” Liz Pancotti, a Groundwork strategic advisor and paper co-author, told the Guardian.
Since pandemic inflation spiked in 2021, a high-stakes debate has played out about its sources. Many progressive economists pointed to corporate profits – or “greedflation” – and supply chain issues as a driver of high prices, while their more conservative counterparts singled out government stimulus cash and high wages.
The report’s authors scoured corporate earnings calls and found executives bragging to shareholders about keeping prices high and widening profit margins as input costs come down.
The findings come as the Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates to their highest point in 20 years. The report casts serious doubt on the need for further interest rate hikes, and instead calls for stronger policies to rein in “corporate profiteering”.
Prices rose in 2021 as labor costs jumped and supply chain shocks from the pandemic and the Ukraine war snarled shipping traffic and left energy supplies in question. But those issues have in many cases been fully sorted out or are easing, and the labor market has stabilized. Many commodities and services producers’ prices have actually decreased, the report notes.
Nearly 60% of the drop in key goods and services’ inputs was driven by large declines in energy costs, such as jet fuel and diesel fuel, while transportation and warehousing costs have fallen by nearly 4% since June 2022 peaks.
Still, prices remain high. Consumers are still paying about 25% more for groceries, the report notes as an example.
Corporations maintain high prices by exploiting cost shocks caused by events like the Ukraine war and coordinating price hikes, said Isabella Weber, a University of Massachusetts Amherst economist who was not part of the paper.
The shocks create an environment in which it is safe for firms to increase prices as they expect their competitors to do the same, said Weber.
“This is a form of implicit collusion,” she said. “Firms do not even need to talk to one another to know that a cost shock is a great time to raise prices. But when costs fall, price setting firms do not have any incentive to decrease prices.”
If no firms launch a price war, Weber added, then companies “hold the line” on prices and widen margins. She pointed to food processors as an example.
The paper zooms in on the diaper industry, of which Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark control 70% of the domestic market. Diaper prices have increased by more than 30% since 2019 from, on average, $16.50 to nearly $22.
The rise was partly driven by an increase in commodities like wood pulp, a major component of diapers. Wholesale wood pulp prices soared by 87% between January 2021 and January 2023, but last year prices dropped by 25%.
Still, diaper prices have not come down with lower costs, the authors say. Groundwork examined earnings calls and found executives at both companies boasting of widening profit margins as input costs decreased. A drop in inputs accounted for about one third of Kimberly Clark’s profits, company executives said.
P&G executives said in their July earnings call they expect $800m in windfall profits because of declining input costs, suggesting they won’t bring down prices.
Meanwhile, workers aren’t faring as well – corporate profits as a share of national income are up by about 29%, and workers’ share of corporate earnings is still down from pre-pandemic levels.
The Biden administration has taken steps to strengthen supply chains, Pancotti noted, and Joe Biden recently called on corporations to stop “gouging” consumers as input costs fall. But she and Weber called for stronger action, pointing to other nations with forms of price control in place.
In France, the government intervenes in price negotiations among retailers and producers. Earlier this month, with the government’s support, the supermarket chain Carrefour banned some PepsiCo products from its shelves because of “unacceptable price increases”.
Absent strong government intervention in pricing, the 2025 expiration of the Trump corporate tax cuts presents an opportunity to rein in corporations via the tax code, Pancotti said.
“We’ve decided as a country that we like to have very large, powerful corporations and we are OK with them being very profitable,” she said. “We need to take a really hard look at how our tax code incentivizes corporate profiteering and ask: ‘Do we as a country want to do something about that?’”
I said this when prices were high and "supply chain" issues weren't a thing and people said I was wrong.
The car manufacturers are still following these practices today and why I'm going to drive my vehicle into the ground before I buy a new one.
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,934
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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The Juggler
Behind that bush over there. Posts: 47,334
Half of recent US inflation due to high corporate profits, report finds
Thinktank report says ‘resounding evidence’ shows companies continue to keep prices high even as their inflationary costs drop
A new report claims “resounding evidence” shows that high corporate profits are a main driver of ongoing inflation, and companies continue to keep prices high even as their inflationary costs drop.
The report, compiled by the progressive Groundwork Collaborative thinktank, found corporate profits accounted for about 53% of inflation during last year’s second and third quarters. Profits drove just 11% of price growth in the 40 years prior to the pandemic, according to the report.
Prices for consumers rose by 3.4% over the past year, but input costs for producers increased by just 1%, according to the authors’ calculations which were based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and National Income and Products Accounts.
“Costs have come down substantially, and while corporations were quick to pass on their increased costs to consumers, they are surprisingly less quick to pass on their savings to consumers,” Liz Pancotti, a Groundwork strategic advisor and paper co-author, told the Guardian.
Since pandemic inflation spiked in 2021, a high-stakes debate has played out about its sources. Many progressive economists pointed to corporate profits – or “greedflation” – and supply chain issues as a driver of high prices, while their more conservative counterparts singled out government stimulus cash and high wages.
The report’s authors scoured corporate earnings calls and found executives bragging to shareholders about keeping prices high and widening profit margins as input costs come down.
The findings come as the Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates to their highest point in 20 years. The report casts serious doubt on the need for further interest rate hikes, and instead calls for stronger policies to rein in “corporate profiteering”.
Prices rose in 2021 as labor costs jumped and supply chain shocks from the pandemic and the Ukraine war snarled shipping traffic and left energy supplies in question. But those issues have in many cases been fully sorted out or are easing, and the labor market has stabilized. Many commodities and services producers’ prices have actually decreased, the report notes.
Nearly 60% of the drop in key goods and services’ inputs was driven by large declines in energy costs, such as jet fuel and diesel fuel, while transportation and warehousing costs have fallen by nearly 4% since June 2022 peaks.
Still, prices remain high. Consumers are still paying about 25% more for groceries, the report notes as an example.
Corporations maintain high prices by exploiting cost shocks caused by events like the Ukraine war and coordinating price hikes, said Isabella Weber, a University of Massachusetts Amherst economist who was not part of the paper.
The shocks create an environment in which it is safe for firms to increase prices as they expect their competitors to do the same, said Weber.
“This is a form of implicit collusion,” she said. “Firms do not even need to talk to one another to know that a cost shock is a great time to raise prices. But when costs fall, price setting firms do not have any incentive to decrease prices.”
If no firms launch a price war, Weber added, then companies “hold the line” on prices and widen margins. She pointed to food processors as an example.
The paper zooms in on the diaper industry, of which Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark control 70% of the domestic market. Diaper prices have increased by more than 30% since 2019 from, on average, $16.50 to nearly $22.
The rise was partly driven by an increase in commodities like wood pulp, a major component of diapers. Wholesale wood pulp prices soared by 87% between January 2021 and January 2023, but last year prices dropped by 25%.
Still, diaper prices have not come down with lower costs, the authors say. Groundwork examined earnings calls and found executives at both companies boasting of widening profit margins as input costs decreased. A drop in inputs accounted for about one third of Kimberly Clark’s profits, company executives said.
P&G executives said in their July earnings call they expect $800m in windfall profits because of declining input costs, suggesting they won’t bring down prices.
Meanwhile, workers aren’t faring as well – corporate profits as a share of national income are up by about 29%, and workers’ share of corporate earnings is still down from pre-pandemic levels.
The Biden administration has taken steps to strengthen supply chains, Pancotti noted, and Joe Biden recently called on corporations to stop “gouging” consumers as input costs fall. But she and Weber called for stronger action, pointing to other nations with forms of price control in place.
In France, the government intervenes in price negotiations among retailers and producers. Earlier this month, with the government’s support, the supermarket chain Carrefour banned some PepsiCo products from its shelves because of “unacceptable price increases”.
Absent strong government intervention in pricing, the 2025 expiration of the Trump corporate tax cuts presents an opportunity to rein in corporations via the tax code, Pancotti said.
“We’ve decided as a country that we like to have very large, powerful corporations and we are OK with them being very profitable,” she said. “We need to take a really hard look at how our tax code incentivizes corporate profiteering and ask: ‘Do we as a country want to do something about that?’”
I said this when prices were high and "supply chain" issues weren't a thing and people said I was wrong.
The car manufacturers are still following these practices today and why I'm going to drive my vehicle into the ground before I buy a new one.
The people who don't understand this stuff are the one's who still think inflation is out of control and just want to blame Biden for everything. They don't seem to post much anymore.
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Options
mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,934
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Comments
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
By Rachel Siegel and Aaron Gregg
December 26, 2023 at 16:21 ET
They bought books and coats, fancy dinners and plane tickets. And as 2023 comes to a close, holiday shoppers offered yet another sign that the U.S. economy will roar into the new year.
On Tuesday, fresh retail sales data from Mastercard showed that consumers spent big on gifts, meals and apparel in November and December despite inflation’s lingering bite. Add on strong consumer confidence, and the S&P 500’s approaching an all-time high, and it’s clear that the U.S. economy is in a far better place than just about anyone expected, zapping any hints of a recession and bolstering hope that people will keep opening their wallets in 2024.
“Given the significant uplifts in holiday sales over the past couple of years, and the current pressures on consumer finances, this level of growth can be chalked up as something of a win for consumers,” said Neil Saunders, managing director for retail at GlobalData.
[Biden’s economy vs. Trump’s, in 12 charts]
U.S. retail sales between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24 were up 3.1 percent compared with the same period a year before, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which measures sales in-store and online across various forms of payment. Online shopping accounted for a large share of the increase, rising 6.3 percent, compared with a 2.2 percent jump for in-person shopping. Apparel sales rose 2.4 percent. Plus, strong demand for in-person dining powered a 7.8 percent jump in restaurant spending.
Some categories showed declines: Jewelry sales, for example, fell 2 percent, while electronics declined 0.4 percent. (The overall report excludes car sales and is not controlled for inflation.)
[U.S. adds jobs in November as labor market remains slow but steady]
The cheery holiday report was expected, building on a strong summer and third quarter, when the economy grew like gangbusters. Sales on Black Friday set a record of $9.8 billion, up 7.5 percent from the year before. Cyber Monday came in even higher at $12.4 billion, according to Adobe Analytics.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Long Beach has become a new destination besides the Hamptons. The rich NYers realized they can save 2 hours of driving by coming here... It sucks.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
https://community.pearljam.com/discussion/300583/im-a-white-american-update-stupid-is-as-stupid-does#latest
The inflation spike of 2021 and 2022 has presented real policy challenges. In order to better understand this policy debate, it is imperative to look at prices and how they are being affected.
The price of just about everything in the U.S. economy can be broken down into the three main components of cost. These include labor costs, nonlabor inputs, and the “mark-up” of profits over the first two components. Good data on these separate cost components exist for the nonfinancial corporate (NFC) sector—those companies that produce goods and services—of the economy, which makes up roughly 75% of the entire private sector.
Since the trough of the COVID-19 recession in the second quarter of 2020, overall prices in the NFC sector have risen at an annualized rate of 6.1%—a pronounced acceleration over the 1.8% price growth that characterized the pre-pandemic business cycle of 2007–2019. Strikingly, over half of this increase (53.9%) can be attributed to fatter profit margins, with labor costs contributing less than 8% of this increase. This is not normal. From 1979 to 2019, profits only contributed about 11% to price growth and labor costs over 60%, as shown in Figure A below. Nonlabor inputs—a decent indicator for supply-chain snarls—are also driving up prices more than usual in the current economic recovery.
In previous recoveries, domestic demand growth was slow and unemployment was high in the early phases of recovery. This led firms to become desperate for more customers but also gave them the upper hand in negotiating with potential employees, which led to subdued price growth and wage suppression.
This time around, the pandemic drove demand through the roof in durable sectors and employment has rebounded rapidly, but the bottleneck in meeting this demand on the supply side was largely notlabor. Instead, it was shipping capacity and other nonlabor shortages. Firms that did happen to have supply on hand as the pandemic-driven demand surge hit had enormous pricing power vis-à-vis their customers.
Full article at link:
https://www.epi.org/blog/corporate-profits-have-contributed-disproportionately-to-inflation-how-should-policymakers-respond/
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
These little tidbits are interesting but misleading.
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rhettbuttle/2024/01/12/three-year-small-business-boom-is-unprecedented/?sh=2b4569743af9
Three-Year Small Business Boom Is Unprecedented
On Thursday, the White House announced that the past three years have seen an unprecedented number ... [+]
GETTYBy: Rhett Buttle
A sure sign of the direction of the economy is the number of small businesses opening. On Thursday, the White House announced that the past three years have seen an unprecedented number of entrepreneurs open up shop in their homes and Main Streets across America.
“Every time someone starts a new small business, it’s an act of hope and confidence in our economy,” said President Joe Biden in a statement. “Today, we learned that Americans filed 16 million new business applications during the first three years of my Administration—16 million acts of hope, the strongest stretch on record.”
The U.S. Census Bureau has been tracking business formation statistics since 2004 and the data released on Thursday showed that the nearly 16 million new recorded business applications since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration represent an approximately 85% increase in the average flow of monthly applications relative to the period between 2004 and January 2021. In fact, the monthly average of 440,000 new business applications over the past three years is 46% higher than the average of 2017 through 2020 combined.
Keith Hall, President and CEO of the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), the nation’s leading advocate and resource for the self-employed and micro-business community, said, “The consistent, record-shattering rate of small businesses surging throughout the nation is great news for not only our community, but also our local and national economy.”
“As the country continues to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic and recovers from recent economic volatility, we applaud the courage and grit of all new business owners, especially Black, Hispanic, AAPI, Native, and other business owners who continue to make entrepreneurial leaps in the face of adversity,” said Ying McGuire, CEO and President, National Minority Supplier Development Council. “The resilience displayed by these leaders highlights the spirit of America, and creates new economic opportunities and pathways for success not just for them, but for their communities and the whole country.”
The increase in growth in entrepreneurship has been particularly high among women, Latinos, and Black Americans. Black business ownership is growing at the fastest pace in 30 years with the share of Black households owning a business more than doubling from 5% to 11% between 2019 and 2022. In addition, Latino business ownership rose from 7% to 10% between 2019 and 2022, the fastest pace in more than a decade. However, the greatest growth can arguably be seen in the number of women-owned businesses, as the rate from 2019 to 2023 was 94% greater than the growth of men-owned businesses.
“The President’s announcement of a record 16 million new small businesses in the last three years is a signal that the US economy is working for entrepreneurs, and in turn, that business owners have confidence in the economy,” said Chiling Tong, President and CEO of the National Asian Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE). “AAPI businesses have benefited from a stronger economy, with over 2.91 million AAPI owned businesses and counting, fueling job creation and economic growth in their communities.”
“More Americans than ever are pursuing their dreams of business ownership as the rate of new business applications filed and establishments under President Biden continues to surge,” said U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman. “In the last year alone, Americans across the country and in a wide range of industries filed a record five and a half million new business applications, bringing the total number under this Administration to a record-breaking 16 million. America’s great diversity continues to propel entrepreneurship with Black, Latino, and women founders starting up at higher rates than ever. As we enter 2024, the SBA will continue its work to increase access to the resources needed to start and grow resilient new businesses, harnessing the unique optimism and ingenuity of American entrepreneurs.”
While there are many factors for this unprecedented growth, there is a general feeling among small business owners that it would not have happened through laissez-faire capitalism. It appears that the initiatives of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America Agenda are lifting up small businesses across the country.
“Policies like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act advance this positive momentum. The $400 billion in investments in all 50 states announced so far, creates ample new opportunities for small businesses while repairing our nation's roads and bridges and strengthening our supply chains,” said Small Business for America’s Future Co-chair Walt Rowen, who is also President of Susquehanna Glass Company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
This growth is connected to other positive aspects with our economy, including 14 million new jobs over the last three years and an unemployment rate that has been below 4% for the longest stretch in more than 50 years. As we kick off 2024, a primary focus for our country should be to build on these successes.
a careful read shows covid wasn't a consideration here. Under fuckstick IN 2019.....
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
I didn't see that one at all.
We were told, repeatedly, that POOTWH’s tax cuts would trickle down and pay for themselves with 4% GDP growth, year over year, quarter over quarter, for 10 years. It’s a comparison of two economic visions and their respective results. Covid shouldn’t even be part of the conversation as it hadn’t occurred yet. Unless folks with Q knowledge knew about Covid before hand and sat on their ideas and money or had no faith in the future.
Again, what is “misleading” about the twit?
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
Half of recent US inflation due to high corporate profits, report finds
Thinktank report says ‘resounding evidence’ shows companies continue to keep prices high even as their inflationary costs drop
A new report claims “resounding evidence” shows that high corporate profits are a main driver of ongoing inflation, and companies continue to keep prices high even as their inflationary costs drop.
The report, compiled by the progressive Groundwork Collaborative thinktank, found corporate profits accounted for about 53% of inflation during last year’s second and third quarters. Profits drove just 11% of price growth in the 40 years prior to the pandemic, according to the report.
Prices for consumers rose by 3.4% over the past year, but input costs for producers increased by just 1%, according to the authors’ calculations which were based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and National Income and Products Accounts.
“Costs have come down substantially, and while corporations were quick to pass on their increased costs to consumers, they are surprisingly less quick to pass on their savings to consumers,” Liz Pancotti, a Groundwork strategic advisor and paper co-author, told the Guardian.
Since pandemic inflation spiked in 2021, a high-stakes debate has played out about its sources. Many progressive economists pointed to corporate profits – or “greedflation” – and supply chain issues as a driver of high prices, while their more conservative counterparts singled out government stimulus cash and high wages.
The report’s authors scoured corporate earnings calls and found executives bragging to shareholders about keeping prices high and widening profit margins as input costs come down.
The findings come as the Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates to their highest point in 20 years. The report casts serious doubt on the need for further interest rate hikes, and instead calls for stronger policies to rein in “corporate profiteering”.
Prices rose in 2021 as labor costs jumped and supply chain shocks from the pandemic and the Ukraine war snarled shipping traffic and left energy supplies in question. But those issues have in many cases been fully sorted out or are easing, and the labor market has stabilized. Many commodities and services producers’ prices have actually decreased, the report notes.
Nearly 60% of the drop in key goods and services’ inputs was driven by large declines in energy costs, such as jet fuel and diesel fuel, while transportation and warehousing costs have fallen by nearly 4% since June 2022 peaks.
Still, prices remain high. Consumers are still paying about 25% more for groceries, the report notes as an example.
Corporations maintain high prices by exploiting cost shocks caused by events like the Ukraine war and coordinating price hikes, said Isabella Weber, a University of Massachusetts Amherst economist who was not part of the paper.
The shocks create an environment in which it is safe for firms to increase prices as they expect their competitors to do the same, said Weber.
“This is a form of implicit collusion,” she said. “Firms do not even need to talk to one another to know that a cost shock is a great time to raise prices. But when costs fall, price setting firms do not have any incentive to decrease prices.”
If no firms launch a price war, Weber added, then companies “hold the line” on prices and widen margins. She pointed to food processors as an example.
The paper zooms in on the diaper industry, of which Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark control 70% of the domestic market. Diaper prices have increased by more than 30% since 2019 from, on average, $16.50 to nearly $22.
The rise was partly driven by an increase in commodities like wood pulp, a major component of diapers. Wholesale wood pulp prices soared by 87% between January 2021 and January 2023, but last year prices dropped by 25%.
Still, diaper prices have not come down with lower costs, the authors say. Groundwork examined earnings calls and found executives at both companies boasting of widening profit margins as input costs decreased. A drop in inputs accounted for about one third of Kimberly Clark’s profits, company executives said.
P&G executives said in their July earnings call they expect $800m in windfall profits because of declining input costs, suggesting they won’t bring down prices.
Meanwhile, workers aren’t faring as well – corporate profits as a share of national income are up by about 29%, and workers’ share of corporate earnings is still down from pre-pandemic levels.
The Biden administration has taken steps to strengthen supply chains, Pancotti noted, and Joe Biden recently called on corporations to stop “gouging” consumers as input costs fall. But she and Weber called for stronger action, pointing to other nations with forms of price control in place.
In France, the government intervenes in price negotiations among retailers and producers. Earlier this month, with the government’s support, the supermarket chain Carrefour banned some PepsiCo products from its shelves because of “unacceptable price increases”.
Absent strong government intervention in pricing, the 2025 expiration of the Trump corporate tax cuts presents an opportunity to rein in corporations via the tax code, Pancotti said.
“We’ve decided as a country that we like to have very large, powerful corporations and we are OK with them being very profitable,” she said. “We need to take a really hard look at how our tax code incentivizes corporate profiteering and ask: ‘Do we as a country want to do something about that?’”
The car manufacturers are still following these practices today and why I'm going to drive my vehicle into the ground before I buy a new one.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
The people who don't understand this stuff are the one's who still think inflation is out of control and just want to blame Biden for everything. They don't seem to post much anymore.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14