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Inflation is still surging and some Democrats1 see one culprit: Greedy companies
The latest inflation report shows what most Americans already know: Prices are still climbing rapidly.
The Labor3 Department said Wednesday that consumer prices in December were up 7% from a year ago — the biggest hit to family pocketbooks in about 40 years.
That has many people asking who or what is to blame for soaring prices. For some progressives, one clear culprit stands out: corporations trying to fatten4 their bottom lines.
"We can't overlook the role that concentrated corporate5 power has played in creating the conditions for price gouging," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said during Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's confirmation6 hearing Tuesday.
Most economists8 are skeptical9, however. They say inflation is being driven by a surge in demand for everything from iPads to automobiles10, along with supply-chain bottlenecks11 that have companies struggling to keep up.
"When more people want to buy things than companies are capable of making, prices go up. That's just the law of supply and demand," said Jason Furman, who served as a top economist7 in the Obama administration.
He doubts that corporations are any greedier now than they were before the pandemic, when inflation generally hovered12 below the Fed's inflation target of 2%.
"Companies always want to maximize their profits," Furman added. "I don't think they're doing it any more this year than any other year."
Like selling water for $20 a bottle in a hurricane?
Whatever the economic merits, though, corporate profiteering is a convenient political target — especially for Democrats who are on the defensive13 over climbing prices, with midterm elections approaching in November and President Biden's approval rating falling.
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Democratic pollster Margie Omero says the idea that corporate greed is at fault resonates with people who are feeling the pinch of pricey gas and groceries.
"People are approaching this not as economists, but what they're observing," Omero said. "A lot of voters feel that companies and the wealthy are getting wealthier while other folks are struggling and having a harder time keeping up."
1 democrats | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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2 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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3 labor | |
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦 | |
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4 fatten | |
v.使肥,变肥 | |
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5 corporate | |
adj.共同的,全体的;公司的,企业的 | |
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6 confirmation | |
n.证实,确认,批准 | |
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7 economist | |
n.经济学家,经济专家,节俭的人 | |
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8 economists | |
n.经济学家,经济专家( economist的名词复数 ) | |
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9 skeptical | |
adj.怀疑的,多疑的 | |
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10 automobiles | |
n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 ) | |
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11 bottlenecks | |
n.瓶颈( bottleneck的名词复数 );瓶颈路段(常引起交通堵塞);(尤指工商业发展的)瓶颈;阻碍 | |
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12 hovered | |
鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫 | |
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13 defensive | |
adj.防御的;防卫的;防守的 | |
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