PPI vs CPI: More Evidence Debunking "Corporate Greed Has Caused Inflation"

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From the St. Louis Federal Reserve: Increase in the producer price index (PPI: in blue) versus increase in the consumer price index (CPI, in red) since Joe Biden's January 2021 inauguration.

Note the price of inputs—both products and services—for companies has risen faster than the price consumers pay from a baseline of January 2021. 

On the flip side, companies incur other costs than just inputs such as depreciation and amortization on capital equipment, taxes, and interest on borrowing. In some cases the last may have somewhat offset inputs costs since the Federal Reserve forced interest rates to zero during most of the period, only hiking them to the 5% range in the summer of 2023.

Given some of the offsets these data could be consistent with "record profits" for some firms, but not for all and even only in nominal terms, meaning when adjusted for inflation the profits are still not really a record.

After all many workers can be said to be making "record salaries" in 2024 but would argue otherwise when taking inflation into account. Same with companies.

But some folks are just itching to blame "corporate greed" for inflation (instead of money creation by the Federal Reserve) and will run with the words "record profits," sans definitions and clarifications, anyway.