美国国家公共电台 NPR--一部分民主党人认为通货膨胀飙升的罪魁祸首是贪婪的企业（在线收听）

Inflation is still surging and some Democrats see one culprit: Greedy companies

Transcript

The latest inflation report shows what most Americans already know: Prices are still climbing rapidly.

The Labor 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 fatten their bottom lines.

"We can't overlook the role that concentrated corporate power has played in creating the conditions for price gouging," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said during Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's confirmation hearing Tuesday.

Most economists are skeptical, however. They say inflation is being driven by a surge in demand for everything from iPads to automobiles, along with supply-chain bottlenecks 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 economist in the Obama administration.

He doubts that corporations are any greedier now than they were before the pandemic, when inflation generally hovered 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 defensive 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."