{"id":200733,"date":"2021-12-06T12:00:03","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T12:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=200733"},"modified":"2025-01-10T15:08:21","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T15:08:21","slug":"as-executives-hike-prices-us-corporations-rake-in-biggest-profits-since-1950","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/12\/as-executives-hike-prices-us-corporations-rake-in-biggest-profits-since-1950\/","title":{"rendered":"As Executives Hike Prices, US Corporations Rake in Biggest Profits Since 1950"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“Prices are high,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, “because corporations are raising them\u2014so they can keep paying themselves with ever-larger executive bonuses and stock buybacks.”<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Consumers shop in a Target store on September 28, 2021 in Miami, Florida.
(Photo: Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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30 Nov 2021 – <\/em>New data released by<\/strong> the Commerce Department shows that over the last two quarters of 2021, U.S. corporations outside the finance sector have raked in their largest profits since 1950\u2014a windfall that belies CEO gripes about rising labor costs and broader inflationary pressures<\/a> in the economy.<\/p>\n

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“Let’s be clear. The problem is not the worker who got a small raise and a $1,400 check seven months ago.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Commerce Department figures, as Bloomberg<\/em> reported<\/a> Tuesday, show that overall corporate profits were up 37% from the previous year while employee compensation was up just 12%.<\/p>\n

“Let’s be clear. The problem is not the worker who got a small raise and a $1,400 check seven months ago,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Budget Committee, tweeted<\/a> in response to the data. “The problem is corporations making record-breaking profits while 700 billionaires became $2 trillion richer during the pandemic.”<\/p>\n

“We need an economy that works for all,” Sanders added, “not the 1%.”<\/p>\n

In recent months, a number of major U.S. companies<\/a> including Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Chipotle, and Dollar Tree<\/a> have announced price hikes amid the coronavirus pandemic, claiming that the increases were made necessary by forces driving inflationary pressures in the U.S. and abroad.<\/p>\n

But observers have pointed to<\/a> corporations’ record profits\u2014as well as sky-high CEO pay\u2014to argue that recent price hikes should be seen as an effort to pass higher labor and material costs onto consumers in order to further pad already-strong bottom lines.<\/p>\n

In June, Chipotle\u2014which handed its CEO a $24 million raise<\/a> last year\u2014said it hiked<\/a> menu prices by around 4% to cover the costs of modest wage increases for employees, fueling the false narrative<\/a> that worker pay raises are to blame for recent price jumps. Last week, Dollar Tree CEO Michael Witynski\u2014who made around $11 million<\/a> in total compensation last year\u2014pointed to the current “inflationary environment” to justify bumping store prices up to $1.25.<\/p>\n

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Under the guise of inflation, large companies are swindling customers to boost their bottom line. Over the past year, they\u2019ve seen their profits skyrocket by 37%, the widest profit margin in over 70 years\u2014all at the expense of the customer\u2019s dollar. https:\/\/t.co\/95x2kAVo0o<\/a><\/p>\n

— Farm Action (@FarmActionUS) November 30, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n