The two largest US oil companies have raked in more than $30 billion in the last three months.
Don't tell me inflation is being driven by government spending or workers asking for better wages.
@rbreich
Please correct me if I am wrong.
I believe inflation is an effect of increasing the monetary mass.
Unregulated, under regulated or rigged capitalism is what makes the money flow to the top.
Inflation itself is not bad or good as long as the excess of money is well distributed among all people.
@kikobar @rbreich Inflation will never be even, though. Three reasons I can come up with quickly:
1. The parts of the economy closest to where the inflation occurs get to spend their money earlier (before it inflates as much).
2. Entities that have pricing power in the market can capture far more of that inflated price (think highly consolidated oil and food producers). So other entities (your locally-owned store or restaurant) increase their prices due to the increased cost of inputs but actually make less profit.
3. Inflation can't possibly be well-distributed between borrowers and lenders on a fixed-interest loan. The lender loses since they loaned pre-inflation money but are paid post-inflation.
@inspired @rbreich
Yes, there is where the regulation kicks in.
We need some regulatory legislation to prevent concentration of negotiating power. If we don't regulate, the money will always flow to where the bargaining power is.
We need to balance the power of lenders vs borrowers, tenants vs landlords, corporations vs workers and customers, etc.
So, high profits are not the problem, they are actually good.
The problem is how these profits get distributed in the value chain and the society.