Ever since the partial reopening of the global economy in the middle of 2021, American consumers have been facing high inflation of prices in multiple sectors.
At that time, a reactivation of crumbling infrastructure, mixed with some poorly timed environmental disasters, led to a crisis in our supply chain.
Meat, coffee and gasoline prices have all seen a nearly 50% increase. These standout products are the ones hurting the pockets of the American people the most. As the months have ticked by, the problems with the supply chain have stayed relatively consistent, but prices are still increasing.
Recent reporting has shown that large corporations in multiple sectors are increasing the cost of their goods for no other reason than to increase profits.
Executives raise prices under the guise of inflation. For months, the majority of the American public was none the wiser.
Starbucks released a statement this week that said they would be forced to increase the prices of their goods even more due to inflation and supply chain issues.
At the same time, Starbucks’ quarterly earnings were the highest they have ever been. The coffee house giant saw a 31% increase in their profits, and the CEO of the company’s salary was increased by 39%.
The gas company Shell has also significantly increased the price of their consumer gasoline. The company has also seen record-breaking profits over the past year.
Exxon will be using its unprecedented profits to increase its share prices by 6% and buying back $10 billion worth of its stocks over the next two years.
On February 2nd, UPS posted a 4th quarter profit of 3.1 billion dollars while Americans struggled for months to get their packages delivered on time.
UPS stated that they would be investing most of that profit back into their stocks in their earnings call. This concept will only increase the size of their shares, making their shareholders more money and padding their bottom line.
While these four companies are some of the worst offenders in these areas, hundreds of other companies are also benefiting in large margins from increasing their prices.
This information is not a well-kept secret either. Both Starbucks and Shell have admitted that they are profiting from arbitrarily raising prices on their earnings calls. On top of this, most consumers now attribute price increases to corporate greed rather than necessity.
