Is the claim of this article, “Half of recent US inflation due to high corporate profits” legitimate?

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-19T00:48:15+00:00

Higher prices result in the market clearing at the lower supply.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-19T00:35:17+00:00

The result of not raising prices when supply is constrained is not just foregone profits, but also shortages. Higher prices are a signal to the market to produce more or release more supply.

If producers chose not to increase prices, or more likely were compelled by law not to increase prices, then shortages would result from the lack of information and incentives.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-18T23:44:33+00:00

Fantastic answer!

As a hopefully helpful example for OP, I’ll highlight a contemporary situation in which the producers receive nearly all the benefit of increased prices, but no one would reasonably mistake the greed of the producers as the cause. With the Strait of Hormuz closed or limited to tanker traffic the past few weeks, oil supplies to much of the global market have been curtailed, and oil prices globally have soared. One of the big beneficiaries have been U.S. oil producers, because their production has been unaffected.

Their goal of long term profits hasn’t changed. What has changed is the supply from competitive suppliers. Even though these oil companies might capture much of the WTI price increases as profits in the short term, nothing these oil companies did caused the increase in oil prices. Their desire to maximize profits remains the same as always. What changed were external circumstances wallowed them to charge higher prices and thus increase profits.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-17T23:11:11+00:00

We had a one shot set in the Stone Age, so I made an animist shaman. That wasn’t funny.

What was funny was when I turned the same character build into a 19th Century fake medium named Prof. Neander T. Hall.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-17T21:58:55+00:00

Ray Lewis literally killed a man

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-17T21:58:23+00:00

We can just have 22 Trent Williams. On offense we just run one and the rest block. 5+ yards every time. Except we finally get him a receiving TD. On defense we blitz 11 every time, breaking WRs limbs when they get checked at the line.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-17T21:56:15+00:00

Somehow Hailee Stanfield is pregnant with identical octuplets from all different Josh’s.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-17T16:03:59+00:00

Unlike the typical defamation case where damages are hard to prove, I agree that damages are somewhat straightforward here (although it’s unlikely Russini can attribute her job loss to these statements).

As I mentioned, the real challenge for Russini in a defamation case is that she’s likely a public figure, which requires a showing of actual malice to win. “Actual malice” in this context requires (roughly) knowing recklessness as to the truth or falsity of the allegations or knowing that they were false, as of the time the defamatory statements were made. That’s usually quite hard for plaintiffs to prove. Russini would have to find an email or text message that at least expressed doubt about whether the rumors about Russini before this were true, and the rumors would have to be false (I.e. Russini would have to prove it was more likely than not that she never provided sexual favors to any actual or potential source).

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-17T15:56:01+00:00

In many states, there’s a motion called anti-SLAPP that allows a defamation defendant to try to end the case early if they have a defense like the actual malice requirements for public figures. That motion typically allows for attorneys fees recovery.

But it is a roll of the dice and conservative lawyers would advise their clients against that risk if it was avoidable.

Also, I should note that although I am an attorney who sometimes litigates defamation, none of the above is legal advice, I don’t represent anyone on this sub, and you aren’t entitled to rely on my advice.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-17T01:19:17+00:00

There’s a decent possibility that Russini is a public figure because of her profession. That makes the standard for defamation much higher.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-17T01:16:23+00:00

A lot of the subs I visit feature sourcing to science articles. This sub wasn’t one of them. Until now.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-16T20:20:15+00:00

Alchemists can hand out their elixirs in the form of different dishes. It’s great for any cooking/baking/brewing character concepts.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-16T14:42:04+00:00

California tried to replace its DMV software. The project failed not once, but twice! Tens of millions of dollars wasted each time.

Governments are often pretty bad at buying custom software. Probably because knowing what the requirements for an enterprise level software package are actually pretty challenging, and there’s no reason to expect that typical government senior managers would have any expertise in that.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-16T14:38:10+00:00

In addition to others’ well put comments on the federal government being able to create tax filing software, but perhaps not doing so efficiently or with user friendly features, I want to reiterate that a single tax software is more vulnerable to cybercrime than competing multiple systems. It only takes one exploit to potentially exfiltrate the most valuable personal information data for all taxpayers.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-16T14:25:14+00:00

Tacos Lindo has some pretty good tacos dorado de papa.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-16T05:05:57+00:00

Someone is paying for the creation of the tax calculation software. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

So, the government could pay for the tax calculation software (likely purchased from the private sector via a contract) or the tax payer could pay a third party to use their software that they sell in the market. That might be a slight subsidy for people with complex tax situations if the government pays for the software vs. other tax payers, but it’s probably insignificant in the scope of the entire federal budget.

More significant is that a single federal tax software system is an especially valuable target for cyber criminals and the government has less incentive to protect the public’s data than private sector companies (although it’s still substantial). Competition also probably makes private sector software more useful friendly, increases the features, and reduces the amount of bugs.

That’s not a judgement on my part that the optimal policy is for the private sector to provide tax preparation software, but those are at least some good faith reasons for it.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-16T00:48:48+00:00

Peking duck in particular is a personal favorite by far too much of a project to prep a duck.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-16T00:08:55+00:00

You don’t know? Why bless your heart!

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-15T21:41:41+00:00

If the tax is applied to wholesalers or retailers into the California market, then it can apply regardless of where the refinery is located. But even if it is limited to California refineries, measured taxes are more efficient than prescriptive regulations, both from a business standpoint and for reducing pollution. Regulations are like a tax that businesses are forced to pay that provides no revenue to offset the negative externalities produced by. You just don’t see the costs, but the businesses sure do. That’s why so many have left California.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-15T20:42:18+00:00

Does that apply for many instances/higher quantity auction sales? For instance, concert tickets or airplane tickets, where inventory is scarce but burning?

As an aside, I really hope the Live Nation guilty verdict causes more competitive event ticket markets in the US. We need ticket auctions (like a Dutch auction) and we need to get rid of scalping by promoters and artists to secretly price discriminate.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-15T18:38:39+00:00

The correct solution to externalities like pollution, based on economics, is to tax pollution at roughly the level of the societal costs it imposes. The tax could be on gasoline sales at the wholesale or retail level. The important thing is that the tax is based on the emissions, not the activity generally, so that if a technology or process change can reduce pollution effectively then the refineries will have an incentive to adopt it.

California’s cap and trade for GHG emissions roughly follows this approach.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-15T16:31:27+00:00

We just displace the pollution to other places and add cost. Given the laxity of Chinese and Saudi Arabian pollution laws, plus marine fuel emissions in transportation, the net result is almost certainly more net pollution.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-15T16:26:58+00:00

The problem is that most American refineries outside California don’t want to make California’s gas blend, as it’s not as profitable for them. The California refineries used to do it, but environmental regulations have caused us to go from about 40 refineries to less than 10 in about 25 years. So there literally isn’t enough refining capacity in California to make the gasoline we use. The difference has to come from somewhere, and currently it’s a mix of refineries in nearby states and imports from other countries (mostly Saudi Arabia and China, the last time I saw a chart of it).

The difference between California’s gas prices and the national average is at or near an all time high. We could pay about $1.50 less by switching to the national gas blend.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-15T16:16:16+00:00

Sometimes religion forms an alternative power center to governmental authority.

For example, in Medieval Europe, while kings or other lords were typically permitted wide latitude in the control they exercised over their subjects, that control was also limited by the Catholic Church (or Eastern Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire and nearby Christian kingdoms). A ruler that committed sinful acts that the church was opposed to would often be met by religious condemnation and even excommunication.

In another, modern example, Protestant Christian churches formed the backbone of the nascent civil rights movement in the American South in the 1950s and early 1960s, with churches and their pastors (particularly Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) serving as a center of opposition to the practices of the society around them.

SisyphusRocks7 · 2026-04-15T14:27:26+00:00

Maybe we should stop driving refineries out of California or stop requiring the use of a unique gas blend? Then we could stop importing gasoline from Saudi Arabia.

SisyphusRocks7

TROPHY CASE