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> The mainstream economics consensus Should be linkable from multiple sources. Care to provide some, then? > was kicked off due to excess savings That's a pa

by nawgz 3y ago

> The mainstream economics consensus Should be linkable from multiple sources. Care to provide some, then? > was kicked off due to excess savings That's a partisan talking point if I've ever heard one, and has largely died out in popularity in my view, since we've seen the endless lists of all-time-high corporate profits and margins > The idea that business profits are driving inflation Couldn't be more obvious. If everything costs more, and corporations are making record profit and revenue across the board, there's probably no limitation of goods or services. For instance, [0] argues my claim directly, [1] shows some details of that relationship, and there's an internet full of it. Everything supporting this "excess savings" bit is either from Republicans or 2021, care to link me something a bit more definitive? [0]: https://www.kansascityfed.org/research/economic-review/how-much-have-record-corporate-profits-contributed-to-recent-inflation/#:~:text=Firms%20raised%20markups%20during%202021,pressures%2C%20contributing%20substantially%20to%20inflation.&text=Inflation%20reached%20a%2040%2Dyear,potential%20explanation%20for%20high%20inflation https://www.kansascityfed.org/research/economic-review/how-m....

HDThoreaun 3y ago
https://www.kentclarkcenter.org/surveys/inflation-market-power-and-price-controls/ https://www.kentclarkcenter.org/surveys/inflation-market-pow... Economists reject the assertion that corporate greed is the cause of inflation because corporations have always been greedy and there was no inflation in the 2 decades before covid.
- nawgz 3y ago
  Notably from January 11, 2022 Also, the argument makes no sense > corporations have always been greedy and there was no inflation in the 2 decades before covid Corporations have clearly achieved deregulation at a greater scale than ever before, both thru devices like regulatory capture to weaken regulatory instruments, and by achieving wealth and therefore power at scales comparable to first world nations. The past did indeed happen in the past, but our past - unlike the authors of that article - includes knowledge of a full year of ludicrous financials and outsized margins being published by corp after corp. What does any writing not from 2021 say? I already addressed that point quite nicely for the audience, I thought.
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > ludicrous financials and outsized margins being published by corp after corp If you translate those financials into real terms, they're less ludicrous. Sometimes negative. Margin expansion absolutely contributed to inflation [1]. (On par with labor.) But this happened through wage suppression. > Corporations have clearly achieved deregulation at a greater scale than ever before, both thru devices like regulatory capture to weaken regulatory instruments What changed between 2021 and 2023 that gave them this power? There are solid cases made for care investments, to boost labour participation, and a variable corporate tax rate that kicks in when inflation is high. But they have to be based on sane, empirical arguments. [1] https://www.epi.org/blog/corporate-profits-have-contributed-disproportionately-to-inflation-how-should-policymakers-respond/ https://www.epi.org/blog/corporate-profits-have-contributed-...
    - nawgz 3y ago
      > What changed between 2021 and 2023 that gave them this power? I think it's fairly evident that the rule of law and corporate oversight in the US was greatly weakened from 2016-2020, and at the start of 2021 an event some argue was essentially a failed coup occurred, yet the only punishments were issued to commoners and none of the instigators or would-be beneficiaries. Why would corporations not be emboldened at such a sight? I agree otherwise with what you've said, and indeed I am not nearly qualified enough to propose the vehicles to change economic outcomes - but it's clear that the narratives denying corporate profiteering's role in inflation are outdated.
      - MichaelZuo 3y ago
        Can you link to a few examples of substantive 'weakening' of the 'rule of law and corporate oversight in the US'?
        meh8881 3y ago
        Net neutrality rules come to mind
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

by nawgz 3y ago

HDThoreaun 3y ago

https://www.kentclarkcenter.org/surveys/inflation-market-power-and-price-controls/ https://www.kentclarkcenter.org/surveys/inflation-market-pow... Economists reject the assertion that corporate greed is the cause of inflation because corporations have always been greedy and there was no inflation in the 2 decades before covid.

nawgz 3y ago
Notably from January 11, 2022 Also, the argument makes no sense > corporations have always been greedy and there was no inflation in the 2 decades before covid Corporations have clearly achieved deregulation at a greater scale than ever before, both thru devices like regulatory capture to weaken regulatory instruments, and by achieving wealth and therefore power at scales comparable to first world nations. The past did indeed happen in the past, but our past - unlike the authors of that article - includes knowledge of a full year of ludicrous financials and outsized margins being published by corp after corp. What does any writing not from 2021 say? I already addressed that point quite nicely for the audience, I thought.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > ludicrous financials and outsized margins being published by corp after corp If you translate those financials into real terms, they're less ludicrous. Sometimes negative. Margin expansion absolutely contributed to inflation [1]. (On par with labor.) But this happened through wage suppression. > Corporations have clearly achieved deregulation at a greater scale than ever before, both thru devices like regulatory capture to weaken regulatory instruments What changed between 2021 and 2023 that gave them this power? There are solid cases made for care investments, to boost labour participation, and a variable corporate tax rate that kicks in when inflation is high. But they have to be based on sane, empirical arguments. [1] https://www.epi.org/blog/corporate-profits-have-contributed-disproportionately-to-inflation-how-should-policymakers-respond/ https://www.epi.org/blog/corporate-profits-have-contributed-...
  - nawgz 3y ago
    > What changed between 2021 and 2023 that gave them this power? I think it's fairly evident that the rule of law and corporate oversight in the US was greatly weakened from 2016-2020, and at the start of 2021 an event some argue was essentially a failed coup occurred, yet the only punishments were issued to commoners and none of the instigators or would-be beneficiaries. Why would corporations not be emboldened at such a sight? I agree otherwise with what you've said, and indeed I am not nearly qualified enough to propose the vehicles to change economic outcomes - but it's clear that the narratives denying corporate profiteering's role in inflation are outdated.
    - MichaelZuo 3y ago
      Can you link to a few examples of substantive 'weakening' of the 'rule of law and corporate oversight in the US'?
      - meh8881 3y ago
        Net neutrality rules come to mind
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]