Corporate profits were biggest driver of inflation in Europe, IMF admits

Rising corporate profits have caused 45% of inflation in Europe, compared to 40% for rising import prices and just 15% for workers’ wages, according to research by IMF economists.

by Ben Norton

Part 2 - Economist Isabella Weber was correct about ‘sellers’ inflation’

Perhaps the most vocal economist in calling for her discipline to research how corporations have contributed to inflation in the past two years is Isabella M. Weber.

A professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Weber has dubbed this “sellers’ inflation”.

Yet, while her work is meticulously sourced, Weber has faced harsh criticism from neoliberal economists.

In December 2021, she published an op-ed in The Guardian titled “Could strategic price controls help fight inflation?”

In the debates around inflation, “a critical factor that is driving up prices remains largely overlooked: an explosion in profits”, Weber wrote. “In 2021, US non-financial profit margins have reached levels not seen since the aftermath of the second world war. This is no coincidence”.

She noted that “large corporations with market power have used supply problems as an opportunity to increase prices and scoop windfall profits”.

Weber’s article set off a firestorm, and she was brutally attacked. New York Times pundit Paul Krugman claimed Weber’s call for price controls was “truly stupid”.

In February 2023, Weber published an academic article further explaining the phenomenon: “Sellers’ Inflation, Profits and Conflict: Why can Large Firms Hike Prices in an Emergency?”

The IMF economists in fact cited this Weber article in their own working paper on inflation in Europe.

Source, links:

https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/06/26/corporate-profits-inflation-europe-imf/

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