November 24, 2010

charts-corporate-profits U.S. corporations have reported the highest profits recorded since the Commerce Department began tracking corporate income growth 60 years ago: $1.659 Trillion. That renders as $1,659,000,000,000 in numerical values.

Granted, while the profits represent the highest dollar amount ever recorded, Matthew Iglesias at the liberal site Think Progress says that, based on the Commerce Dept. report (see charts at right), “record-breaking” is a relative term because the figure itself has not been adjusted for inflation.

The New York Times financial pages, which generally side with Republicans on economic issues, took a rosier view:

That is the highest figure recorded since the government began keeping track over 60 years ago, at least in nominal or noninflation-adjusted terms…. Corporate profits have been doing extremely well for a while. Since their cyclical low in the fourth quarter of 2008, profits have grown for seven consecutive quarters, at some of the fastest rates in history. As a share of gross domestic product, corporate profits also have been increasing, and they now represent 11.2 percent of total output. That is the highest share since the fourth quarter of 2006, when they accounted for 11.7 percent of output.

[…]

Day: November 24, 2010

Verbatim

This speaks to a bigger picture here that certainly scares me in terms of our national security policy. But obviously we’ve gotta stand with our North Korean allies.

— Pollebrity Sarah Palin, demonstrating her mastery of U.S. foreign policy on Glenn Beck’s radio program.

Record $1.659 Trillion Corporate Profit Under Obama’s Socialist Jackboot Undercuts GOP Spin on Govt Economic Policies

Obama Saves Turkey

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“One woman at a rally in New Jersey told me last week that she was ‘nauseously optimistic.’ That may capture a lot of people’s last-minute jitters.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), quoted by Axios, on what Democrats feel ahead of the midterm elections.

“I think Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom.”

— Former President Bill Clinton, quoted by The Wrap.

“Boy, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels like a real desperation play to me, because it has got zero basis in the law.”

— Republican election law expert Ben Ginsberg, quoted by Politico, on the Trump administration’s effort to invalidate Alaska’s election results.

Numerati

3,824

$1.4 billion

-35 points

31%

63% to 38%

KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”