Inflation

How Inflation Is Used & Manipulated.

Inflation is a way for people in power to take back the extra money workers get when they receive a raise. When wages go up, the price of things also goes up, so workers don't actually get any extra money. The people in charge do this by making things more expensive without giving workers a raise. This helps them make more money, but it hurts regular people who have to pay more for things. Inflation is basically just the cost of living going up.

Inflation is a tool used by powerful people who work with politicians. They use the media to make people really upset about inflation, and then they act like it's not a big deal when it helps them. Some people who study money and business try to say that it's not the rich people making things more expensive, but the facts show that they actually are. This is called "price gouging." Some people who study money and business work for the companies that make things more expensive, so they don't want to say anything bad about them. Basically, when just a few big companies control an industry, they can charge more money for things than they could if there was more competition.

Many people think that prices for things are higher than they've ever been, but that's not true. The prices are only higher right now because of a big problem that's happening all over the world. This problem is very rare, it only happens once every hundred years. But, things are already starting to get better on their own. Some people on TV might say that the cost of gas is way up from last year, but that's not a surprise because nobody was really driving last year. Also, the companies that make gas and oil are raising their prices all over the world because they want to make more money during the pandemic, just like a lot of other rich people. Don't believe everything the news tells you about money because they don't really know much about it. And, this problem with prices doesn't have anything to do with President Biden.

Big oil companies made $35 billion in profit in the first quarter of 2022 and plan to give their rich shareholders $88 billion in stock buybacks. Meanwhile, the corporate media stirs up anger about high gas prices, knowing full well that the oil industry is gouging everyone. Republican senators filibuster any attempts to tax windfall profits from excessive gouging, protecting their owners/bribers in the oil industry. The oil industry is using the excuse of war in Ukraine to justify high gas prices, but in reality, they are taking advantage of the situation and hurting American families. Worldwide shortages and price spikes for fuel and food are causing a panic. Oil prices increased as the pandemic eased, in part due to 15% production cuts negotiated by Trump with Russia and Saudi Arabia in 2020, which remain in place. Recent recordings of CEOs talking to investors reveal that prices are being raised to increase profits, not because the companies are losing money. The corporate media loves to talk about inflation being at a forty-year high, but they rarely mention that corporate profits are at a fifty-year high. Inflation is caused by greedy corporations.

The media likes to blame inflation on the small amount of money the government gave people during the COVID pandemic. But they don't talk about how the Federal Reserve gave trillions of dollars to Wall Street. They don't want people to know that corporations got way more money than the average person. When the stock market crashed in March 2020, the Federal Reserve stepped in and gave trillions of dollars to the rich by buying assets, stocks, bonds, and treasury bills. This started in 2009 when the Republican Recession caused a financial crisis and the bailouts happened. The Federal Reserve took extraordinary actions to support the rich during the coronavirus crisis. None of the money that went to billionaires has been paid back to the government. But when people couldn't feed their kids and received a small amount of assistance, the media called them freeloaders.

The prices of goods and services are going up, and it seems like it's on purpose. Big companies that control their industries are raising prices just because they can. For example, airline tickets are over 20% more expensive than they were last year because there are only a few big airlines and they don't have to compete with anyone. This is happening in every industry because big companies have too much power and there isn't enough competition. The oil industry is also a big problem. They charge high prices because they don't have to compete or follow any rules. We could fix this by making it illegal to export oil from the United States, which we used to do from 1973 to 2015. Companies only care about making money, not helping America. Even though Republicans say we need to cut spending or raise taxes to pay for things we need, they still spend a lot of money on the military and pet projects without worrying about inflation.

The House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform Report from November 2022 found that some corporations are using inflation as an excuse to raise prices unfairly, leading to huge profits for these companies at the expense of consumers. The report calls out these companies for ripping off customers and using their monopoly power to gouge prices. The report is called "Power & Profiteering," and it shows how certain industries are driving up prices and inflation to maximize their profits. The report notes that executives of leading companies have admitted on earnings calls that they are taking advantage of inflation to jack up prices and fleece consumers. The report cites examples of companies in various industries that have seen massive increases in profits due to their price-gouging tactics. For example, some of the largest companies in the shipping, rental car, meat processing, and oil and gas industries have seen their profits skyrocket. The report concludes that this greed is shocking and something needs to be done to stop it.

Topic Related Merchandise

Talking Points Information

The Truth They’re Not Telling You About Inflation.

House Analysis Confirms Corporations Use 'Cover of Inflation to Raise Prices Excessively'.

Power and Profiteering: How Certain Industries Hiked Prices, Fleeced Consumers, and Drove Inflation.

FACT SHEET: The Inflation Reduction Act Supports Workers and Families.