Democrats on the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), led by Committee Chair Martin Heinrich (D-NM), released a report this week that examines rising corporate profits.
The report, titled, “Democrats are Taking on Corporate Greed and Fighting for American Families,” shows that big companies have taken in unusually high profits, potentially helping to drive inflation higher.
Typically, company profits account for only 13 percent of price increases, the report said. However, between April 2020 and December 2021, company profits accounted for 54 percent of overall price increases and remained above normal levels through 2022. The report found that this was especially extreme for the largest companies, whose profit margins surged and remained high.
“While families were struggling with rapidly rising prices, mega corporations raked in profits – using inflation as an excuse to pad their pockets,” Heinrich said. “If left unchecked, these mega corporations will continue to raise prices, using their market dominance to extract more and more of American’s hard-earned wages. That’s why it’s more important than ever that Democrats in Congress and the Biden administration are fighting back – working to lower prices and increase competition.”
The report also details some of the steps that the Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats have taken to ease the impact on consumers.
The JEC is Congress’s bicameral economic think tank, tasked with reviewing economic conditions and recommending improvements in economic policy.