Inflation Woes

Stupid Biden! Inflation is high right now and he's President, so this is all his fault!

Or, maybe it's actually not.

A report released this week by government watchdog Accountable.US analyzed the earnings data of the top three corporations in several major categories and found that the amount they raised prices did not simply cover an increase in operating costs due to outside factors, but rather led to generating profits for their shareholders. Big profits. Combined, these companies put $151 billion in increased profits into their own pockets and the pockets of shareholders.

“Across nearly every single industry that is measured for price changes, we’re seeing highly profitable corporations demand more money for consumer staples that families depend on without a good reason why,” Accountable.US president Kyle Herrig said in a statement. “These companies would have consumers believe they marked up prices just to keep up with outside costs, but the tens of billions in extra profits and generous giveaways to investors last year show otherwise. It simply doesn’t add up. Despite what they claim, these highly profitable businesses do have a choice, and they’re choosing to fatten their bottom line rather than keep consumer prices stable."

Huh. It almost seems like economics is more complex than "let's blame the President" for everything**, and sometimes it's just greedy corporations taking money out of your pocket. I guess if corporations are screwing you over, it's okay.

Here are some examples from the report.

As grocery prices increased 6.5%, the country's largest grocery chains — Walmart, Kroger, and Costco — benefited from price increases while seeing their fiscal year net incomes increase by a total of $238 million while increasing stock buybacks and dividends by over $12 billion. [...]

As prices increased 6%, two of the biggest U.S. food chains — McDonald's and YUM! Brands — saw profits increase by over $3.4 billion in FY 2021 while boosting shareholder handouts by over $1.48 billion. Meanwhile, Starbucks, the second-biggest restaurant chain, saw its FY 2021 profits increase by nearly $3.2 billion.

Oh, and guess what? Oil companies are doing it too. Don't like the current high gas prices? Well, the three biggest US oil companies' profits jumped by $87.5 billion last year. Seems to me that if they made $87.5 billion IN PROFIT, they really didn't need to raise gas prices so much.

These companies are gouging Americans and taking advantage of crises all over the world to stuff their already-full pockets even more. But let's go ahead and blame the guy working hard to fix these problems. That'll work.

**Don't get me wrong. There are absolutely situations where a President CAN influence the economy in negative ways. For example, by facilitating the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans by discouraging them from effective health measures that would save their lives and get Americans back to work.

But that's just an example. No one would ever be stupid enough to do that, would they?