Groundwork’s Chief Economist Reacts to “Astronomical Corporate Profits”

Groundwork’s Chief Economist Reacts to “Astronomical Corporate Profits”

This morning, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released second-quarter corporate profit data, showing nonfinancial corporate profits hit $2 trillion – the highest ever recorded. Dr. Rakeen Mabud, chief economist of Groundwork Collaborative, reacted with the following statement:

“Today’s astronomical corporate profits confirm what corporate executives have been telling us on earning calls over and over again: They’re making a lot of money by charging people more, and they don’t plan on bringing prices down anytime soon. Corporate profiteering continues in full force – and all of us are paying the price.

“This data should be a wake-up call for policymakers. Megacorporations are a key driver of high prices – and we need bold action to rein them in.” 

Email press@groundworkcollaborative.org to speak to Dr. Mabud – and see below for the latest examples of companies keeping prices high, even as labor and production costs decline.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM GROUNDWORK’S CORPORATE PROFITEERING RESEARCH

• Colgate-Palmolive appears to have shoved two years of price increases into the last two quarters and had this to say about it: “…which looks terrific for us.” There will be no let-up for consumers either, with their CEO saying, “Moving forward, I would say that we will continue to be pushing pricing.” [7/29/22]
• Kraft Heinz is looking forward to inflation going down, so they can keep their price increases. Its CFO predicted the company’s margins would increase because “as we continue to price inflation, the inflation events that start to ease, that might put us in a better position for us to continue to recover the margin.” [7/27/22]
• HB Fuller’s CEO told an analyst the company expected “sizable margin expansion” as costs declined because of “extremely sticky” prices and said the company would “push harder” on price increases. [6/23/22]