Since 1990, Corporate Profits Up 200%, Household Income Up 2% - BCA

[Bfgrn]

It has been the best of times for corporate profits, but rather less so for consumer incomes. Corporate earnings have soared 200% since 1990 while real median family incomes have increased by only 2%.

These data come from a recent article entitled, "High Profit Margins and Stagnant Real Incomes: Is Capitalism Working Properly?"

It didn't appear in The Nation but rather in The Bank Credit Analyst, the highly respected, long-time financial and economic research service that would never be thought of as some hotbed of populist fervor. And the author is not Michael Moore but Martin Barnes, the Bank Credit Analyst's long-time managing editor and self-described "dour Scot."

Moreover, rather than calling for a storming of the ramparts, Barnes poses questions of concern for the most self-interested of capitalists. Can the current high level of profit margins be maintained? Even more basically, can the corporate sector continue to prosper while the average consumer struggles?

What's stunning about the current cycle is that, despite a weak economic recovery, profit margins are near historic highs, albeit short of their historic peak in 2005. A major driver has been earnings from abroad, which have increased to 35% of total U.S. company profits from 20% since 1999. …

Bottom line, the main factors that have propelled corporate profits—cost-cutting, financial profits and overseas earnings—are waning. Even so, companies have done a far sight better than workers, as noted earlier. Since 2000, they've fallen even further behind; profits are up 70% while real median family incomes are down 2%.

Part of that has been because consumer prices have risen faster than corporate selling prices, which reflect costs of capital goods which have been held down by technology, Barnes notes. "However, it seems clear that labor has not received its fair share in recent years, even when using corporate prices," he adds, falling 4% short of what would be expected based on productivity gains.

"Ultimately, the health of the corporate sector depends on the financial health of its customers. Thus, the divergence between rising profits and weak growth in real consumer incomes will have to change," Barnes asserts.

Corporate Profit Gains at Labor's Expense May be Hitting Limit - Barrons.com

 

[Guns Guns Guns]

Clearly, we need to eliminate unions, lower the minimum wage, dismantle MediCare, stop those bothersome consumer protections, and give more tax breaks to beleaguered big business.

 

[NOVA]

It has been the best of times for corporate profits, but rather less so for consumer incomes. Corporate earnings have soared 200% since 1990 while real median family incomes have increased by only 2%.

These data come from a recent article entitled, "High Profit Margins and Stagnant Real Incomes: Is Capitalism Working Properly?"

It didn't appear in The Nation but rather in The Bank Credit Analyst, the highly respected, long-time financial and economic research service that would never be thought of as some hotbed of populist fervor. And the author is not Michael Moore but Martin Barnes, the Bank Credit Analyst's long-time managing editor and self-described "dour Scot."

Moreover, rather than calling for a storming of the ramparts, Barnes poses questions of concern for the most self-interested of capitalists. Can the current high level of profit margins be maintained? Even more basically, can the corporate sector continue to prosper while the average consumer struggles?

What's stunning about the current cycle is that, despite a weak economic recovery, profit margins are near historic highs, albeit short of their historic peak in 2005. A major driver has been earnings from abroad, which have increased to 35% of total U.S. company profits from 20% since 1999. …

Bottom line, the main factors that have propelled corporate profits—cost-cutting, financial profits and overseas earnings—are waning. Even so, companies have done a far sight better than workers, as noted earlier. Since 2000, they've fallen even further behind; profits are up 70% while real median family incomes are down 2%.

Part of that has been because consumer prices have risen faster than corporate selling prices, which reflect costs of capital goods which have been held down by technology, Barnes notes. "However, it seems clear that labor has not received its fair share in recent years, even when using corporate prices," he adds, falling 4% short of what would be expected based on productivity gains.

"Ultimately, the health of the corporate sector depends on the financial health of its customers. Thus, the divergence between rising profits and weak growth in real consumer incomes will have to change," Barnes asserts.

Corporate Profit Gains at Labor's Expense May be Hitting Limit - Barrons.com

Comparing watermelons to grapes makes little sense and gives a distorted picture of the issue.....

Corporate "earnings from abroad" alone creates a distortion as it has NOTHING to do with US consumers or workers..corporate "cost-cutting" also benefits the business and doesn't effect the consumer wages.
Labor has not received its fair share in recent years, even when using corporate prices, falling 4% short of what would be expected based on productivity gains. ?
Labor lagging by 4% is hardly a calamity....4 pennies on the dollar......even if you think labor deserves some the productivity gains......the productivity gains may be coming from new machinery, new innovations, better yield of product, or any number of things that don't change monetary value of the labor....
The devil is in the details and this "financial and economic research " needs more of those details, rather than just conclusions....

Just because business profits increase, doesn't mean the employee automatically MUST share in those profits....

 

[Guns Guns Guns]

Comparing watermelons to grapes makes little sense and gives a distorted picture of the issue.....Corporate "earnings from abroad" alone creates a distortion as it has NOTHING to do with US consumers or workers..corporate "cost-cutting" also benefits the business and doesn't effect the consumer wages. Labor has not received its fair share in recent years, even when using corporate prices, falling 4% short of what would be expected based on productivity gains. ? Labor lagging by 4% is hardly a calamity....4 pennies on the dollar......even if you think labor deserves some the productivity gains......the productivity gains may be coming from new machinery, new innovations, better yield of product, or any number of things that don't change monetary value of the labor....The devil is in the details and this "financial and economic research " needs more of those details, rather than just conclusions....
Just because business profits increase, doesn't mean the employee automatically MUST share in those profits....

Apparently it was OK to bail out the corporations that were too big to fail, though.

 

[Rune]

Comparing watermelons to grapes makes little sense and gives a distorted picture of the issue.....

Corporate "earnings from abroad" alone creates a distortion as it has NOTHING to do with US consumers or workers..corporate "cost-cutting" also benefits the business and doesn't effect the consumer wages.
Labor has not received its fair share in recent years, even when using corporate prices, falling 4% short of what would be expected based on productivity gains. ?
Labor lagging by 4% is hardly a calamity....4 pennies on the dollar......even if you think labor deserves some the productivity gains......the productivity gains may be coming from new machinery, new innovations, better yield of product, or any number of things that don't change monetary value of the labor....
The devil is in the details and this "financial and economic research " needs more of those details, rather than just conclusions....

Just because business profits increase, doesn't mean the employee automatically MUST share in those profits....

Shut up you stupid shill.

 

[Guns Guns Guns]

Blabo can't help himself.

​

 

[NOVA]

Apparently it was OK to bail out the corporations that were too big to fail, though.

No...It wasn't OK....business should stand or fail on their merits....the bailout of GM cost the taxpayers big bucks that will NEVER be repaid....
The only ones that benefited was the democrats that bought the votes of the UAW and of course the UAW practically given a major manufacturing business.... with our money

 

[NOVA]

Blabo can't help himself.

Yep....when I see lies, mis-representations and mis-characterizations presented a fact, I MUST SPEAK OUT....

 

[Crashk]

Comparing watermelons to grapes makes little sense and gives a distorted picture of the issue.....

Corporate "earnings from abroad" alone creates a distortion as it has NOTHING to do with US consumers or workers..corporate "cost-cutting" also benefits the business and doesn't effect the consumer wages.
Labor has not received its fair share in recent years, even when using corporate prices, falling 4% short of what would be expected based on productivity gains. ?
Labor lagging by 4% is hardly a calamity....4 pennies on the dollar......even if you think labor deserves some the productivity gains......the productivity gains may be coming from new machinery, new innovations, better yield of product, or any number of things that don't change monetary value of the labor....
The devil is in the details and this "financial and economic research " needs more of those details, rather than just conclusions....

Just because business profits increase, doesn't mean the employee automatically MUST share in those profits....

Sounds like the Old South to me. Come on Bravo why don't you just come out and say it....'Let them eat cake'.

You should be worried that most of the former middle class who are now in the working poor class are wising up to the real reason for their demise, 30 yrs of unAmerican conservative ideology. The backlash is coming Bravo, sooner than Faux 'news' will tell you.

 

[cawacko]

Sounds like the Old South to me. Come on Bravo why don't you just come out and say it....'Let them eat cake'.

You should be worried that most of the former middle class who are now in the working poor class are wising up to the real reason for their demise, 30 yrs of unAmerican conservative ideology. The backlash is coming Bravo, sooner than Faux 'news' will tell you.

What form is this backlash coming in? Does it mean people are going to vote for more Democrats? Bill Clinton was a free trade guy. Obama got more money from Wall St than his Republican opponent did. Is the Green party, or another third party maybe, going to rise and challenge the Democrats and Republicans?

 

[Crashk]

What form is this backlash coming in? Does it mean people are going to vote for more Democrats? Bill Clinton was a free trade guy. Obama got more money from Wall St than his Republican opponent did. Is the Green party, or another third party maybe, going to rise and challenge the Democrats and Republicans?

I think the first backlash will be at the ballot box. That depends on whether or not we still have a democracy in this country or if our election system has been totally corrupted by Citizens United and foreign corporate money. If the next set of politicians continue to work for corporate profits over the well being of the people and don't improve our economic situation then I believe we'll see people in the streets demanding action, after that who knows.

 

[Guns Guns Guns]

The divide between corporate fortunes and those of ordinary Americans continues to widen, as banks post strong profits and the nation's largest companies boost executive pay.




Banks and corporations are exhibiting a confidence reminiscent of pre-crisis days, even as the broader economy still sputters. Bank profits soared in the first three months of the year, and corporate profits likewise swelled last year. And executives saw ever fatter bonuses. But the amount of cash banks sent out into the economy as loans declined last quarter, and the pace at which companies are hiring new workers remains disappointing with the unemployment rate stuck around 9 percent.




For big corporations, the recession's legacy has all but faded. But for much of the rest of America, finances are still tight. Home values are falling at an accelerating pace, and high energy prices recall the nightmarish summer of 2008. The widening divide in fortunes constitutes a long-term drag on the economy, experts say.




"If a very small number of people have everything, everybody else has nothing," said Mark Blyth, professor of international political economy at Brown University. "If they decide not to spend, or if they decide basically not to invest, then everyone else's health and well-being depends upon the decisions of a few, whose consumption decisions are utterly different and completely independent of everyone else's."




Bank revenue fell during the first three months of the year, but profits soared as institutions set aside less money to cover losses, according to new government report. Bank profits rose to reach $29 billion, a 66.5 percent increase from the same period last year and the best quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2007, the report said.




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/25/bank-profit-corporate-bonus_n_866903.html

 

[Topspin]

How many millions of Americans work or invest in corporations.

This shit is hillarious, to you have to be poor and economically illiterate to be a democrat.

BFdropout didn't even comment on his flame

 

[Guns Guns Guns]

Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co, recipients of more than $100 billion in US rescue funds, criticized proposals to tax Wall Street bonuses.




Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis called the tax “unfair”...












http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/bailout-recipients-dont-want-bonuses-to-be-taxed/352509/

 

[Topspin]

demturds throw all corps in with the bailout thieves

 

[Crashk]

McDonalds reportedly turned away 900,000 apllicants this past year while acepting 62,000 new hires - less than a 7% acceptance rate - making McDonalds slightly more difficult to get into than Harvard - whose acceptance rate is just over 7%.

Bravo and the rest of his extremist right wing buddies had better get wise to the growing anger in middle America. Their trickle-down voodoo deregulated economics have failed and workers in this country aren't happy being corporate slaves. This is really nothing different or new. The right has always wanted a wealthy ruling class and everyone else in poverty. The downfall of our economy was planned and executed over the past 30 years for the benefit of the rich ruling class, nothing new.

 

[Guns Guns Guns]

The Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 were sold to the American people as a way to "stimulate the economy."




The idea was that the $400 to $600 that the average American would get back from these tax cuts would be funneled back into the economy and create more jobs, more spending, more demand for goods and services, etc.




All this was to be ours for the bargain price of only about a $1.5 trillion loss of revenue over a 10-year period, which would be more than offset by a projected $5.6 trillion dollar surplus we were supposed to have over the same 10-year period. (Lesson: Projected does not mean expected.)




Reagan and George W. Bush insisted that giving large companies and wealthy individuals tax advantages would trickle down to the average worker, thereby "stimulating" the economy.




When the Obama administration injected "stimulus" money into the economy to keep it from crumbling, the word "stimulus" suddenly became anathema.




Ironically, one of the foremost groups of recipients of the first Obama stimulus package, the banking industry, played a huge part in bringing about the crisis that led to the most expensive bailout in history.




Deregulated and allowed to sell, re-package and re-sell mortgages on the derivatives market, the banking industry's lack of judgment and financial accountability was largely responsible for the destabilization of the American economy, which was precipitated in large part by the mortgage pyramid meltdown of the last quarter of 2008.










http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20110606/NEWS/110609893/1042/news?p=2&tc=pg

 

[Topspin]

democrats better stop rejecting education, hillarious that supply side is still being whipped. Trillions of Keynsian stimulus just flopped.
It's globalization demtards, unkilled labor's pay will only keep going down regardless of who is in the WH

 

[Guns Guns Guns]

It is more than interesting that a Democratic administration (Barack Obama's) was made both the administrator and scapegoat for sponsoring a bailout to save American banks from going under for the sins not only committed but encouraged under a Republican administration (Bush's).




Meanwhile, the same members of the banking industry held in reserve bonuses for their top executives amounting to 86 percent of the bailout money they received!








http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20110606/NEWS/110609893/1042/news?p=2&tc=pg

 

[NOVA]

Sounds like the Old South to me. Come on Bravo why don't you just come out and say it....'Let them eat cake'.

You should be worried that most of the former middle class who are now in the working poor class are wising up to the real reason for their demise, 30 yrs of unAmerican conservative ideology. The backlash is coming Bravo, sooner than Faux 'news' will tell you.

30 yrs of unAmerican conservative ideology ?.....Are you a comedian....????
Its more like 3 years of Obamanomics........Bush's record is a shining example of low taxes, low unemplotment and thriving economy....thats not opinion...thats fact.