Live data from Hacker News

Corporate profits account for almost half the increase in Europe’s inflation

imf.org

21–30 of 476 posts

Re: Corporate profits account for almost half the increase in Europe’s inflation

#21
People will continue to blame workers regardless. Central banks will continue to raise interest rates, squeezing consumers, and debt laden companies will increase prices further to compensate.

The UK has already seen retail volume decouple from revenue and is now seeing the beginnings of a mortgage crisis. At least the rich will have yet another opportunity to snap up the foreclosures.

The good news is that energy bills this winter might only be 2-3x what they were pre-pandemic.

Re: Corporate profits account for almost half the increase in Europe’s inflation

#22

TLDR: * Profits: 45 percent * Import costs: 40 percent * Labour costs: 25 percent Somehow obviously arriving at 110%? "As the Chart of the Week shows, the higher inflation so far mainly reflects higher profits and import prices, with profits accounting for 45 percent of price rises since the start of 2022." "Import costs accounted for about 40 percent of inflation, while labor costs accounted for 25 percent. Taxes ha…

> Somehow obviously arriving at 110%?

Isn’t that how inflation works?

Re: Corporate profits account for almost half the increase in Europe’s inflation

#23

TLDR: * Profits: 45 percent * Import costs: 40 percent * Labour costs: 25 percent Somehow obviously arriving at 110%? "As the Chart of the Week shows, the higher inflation so far mainly reflects higher profits and import prices, with profits accounting for 45 percent of price rises since the start of 2022." "Import costs accounted for about 40 percent of inflation, while labor costs accounted for 25 percent. Taxes ha…

>Somehow obviously arriving at 110%?

Because decreases in effective tax rates account for –10% of the observed change. Including negative contributions is a little confusing, but it gets a lot more confusing when you omit that part without clarifying why.

Re: Corporate profits account for almost half the increase in Europe’s inflation

#24

TLDR: * Profits: 45 percent * Import costs: 40 percent * Labour costs: 25 percent Somehow obviously arriving at 110%? "As the Chart of the Week shows, the higher inflation so far mainly reflects higher profits and import prices, with profits accounting for 45 percent of price rises since the start of 2022." "Import costs accounted for about 40 percent of inflation, while labor costs accounted for 25 percent. Taxes ha…

> Just a short summary for everyone who doesn't want to read

I found the 2nd half of the article more interesting than the first (2nd half is about employee wages)

It’s worth a full read IMO

Re: Corporate profits account for almost half the increase in Europe’s inflation

#25
post #2

As they say, never waste a good crisis.

OR governments have demonstrated that they can take extreme decisions without warning, so businesses price accordingly. If you operate in this economy with unstable decision-making, then it creates margins to prepare padding.

Even if all businesses were cash-flow-positive during Covid, the environment is still more unstable.

Re: Corporate profits account for almost half the increase in Europe’s inflation

#26
Danone, Kellogg among 75 companies France has asked for price cuts

https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/danone-kell...

-----

Meanwhile, in the US:

Car Dealer Markups Helped Drive Inflation, Study Finds: The money dealers charged over makers’ suggested prices factored into a nearly 16% rise in the consumer-price index in recent years

https://www.wsj.com/articles/car-dealer-markups-helped-drive...

Re: Corporate profits account for almost half the increase in Europe’s inflation

#27

I find it hilarious when companies are following their stated goal of making profits, while everybody else is rushing to explaining rising prices by factoring in everything but profits.

yes, the problem is when the central bank increase rates and increase unemployment in order to tame "inflation".

Re: Corporate profits account for almost half the increase in Europe’s inflation

#29

Somehow this makes me feel better that it’s not just an American phenomenon - that we don’t have a monopoly on callous greed.

Finally we’ve managed to outsource our short-term-profit obsessed business culture across the whole globe. Yay.

Re: Corporate profits account for almost half the increase in Europe’s inflation

#30
post #2

As they say, never waste a good crisis.

OR governments have demonstrated that they can take extreme decisions without warning, so businesses price accordingly. If you operate in this economy with unstable decision-making, then it creates margins to prepare padding. Even if all businesses were cash-flow-positive during Covid, the environment is still more unstable.

This.

If govs can print out 2x the money supply in a few years, you want to “cash out” profits as fast as possible instead of reinvesting them.

Post reply on HN