Inflation is trending slightly downward, gas prices are down, the stock market is reacting somewhat positively, unemployment remains steadily low. So I guess the end of 2022 isn’t so bad, right?

Corporate profits?

What I keep wondering, though, is how much corporate greed fueled inflation that has hit everyone hard in the pocketbook? Corporations in the United States made profits of nearly three trillion U.S. dollars in the third quarter of 2022. This is a slight decrease compared to the record breaking second quarter of 2022.

Taking care of shareholders

Of course, corporations have an obligation to make profits for shareholders. Of course, they have a right to make money. But did they take advantage of a situation?

It appears they did!

News reports I’ve found quoted corporate giants as saying times of inflation are good for them. They can expand pricing just a bit more, understanding consumers expect it, in order to pad profit.

Seems pretty unfair

It all seem pretty unfair to me. You know people are hurting. You know many are scrambling, especially this holiday season, to buy gifts for their children and take care of the basics. It’s galling, I think, to learn that corporations could have reduced profit just a tad to help out.

Gas prices

We already knew that gas prices were fueling immense corporate profits. But now we know the greed spread to other industries.

Wal-Mart pies

I’ll give you a tiny example. My husband loves the little individual pies Wal-Mart offers for sale in many flavors. They cost 50 cents each when we first started buying them a year ago. Today they are 74 cents, nearly a 50 percent increase in price. Now Wal-Mart pies are hardly a necessity. In fact, they really have too many carbs. And my husband should snack on an apple or orange instead. But it’s an example. I could give you many more. But you probably have your own.

Nixon’s wage and price controls

I’ve wondered of late if President Biden should institute wage and price controls, like Richard Nixon did in August of 1971. But in reading about this, I think not. And wiser heads in Washington haven’t even hinted at such a thing.

A political success but not ecobomically

The Nixon Shock, as it has come to be known, has been widely considered to be a political success. But it was an economic failure for bringing on the 1973–1975 recession, the stagflation of the 1970s, and the instability of floating currencies. The dollar plunged by a third during the 1970s.

Perhaps things are turning

I’m no economics genius. You can look at my bank account and tell that. I also had trouble eking out a C in economics in college.

But it looks to me like things are hopeful, especially with recent news. Even the President’s approval rating is up a bit. All in all, not a bad way to end the year. And perhaps 2023 will be even better.