Are Prices Getting Gouged in Minnesota? Maybe Not…

While inflation continues to inflate, most of us are still looking around for someone to blame. The usual targets (Biden, China, Cobra Commander) have grown stale and some of us have started looking at corporations. Are they raising prices in order to maximize their profits? That’s a good question…

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Here’s Five Fast Facts Corporate Profits in Minnesota:

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1. 🏢 Dirty Dozen - The Star Tribune just took a look at 12 large businesses in the state and it shows they’re all still trying to recover from the pandemic.
2. 📈 Ew, Gross! - In fact, their gross profit margins (the cost of goods as a percentage of their revenue) are actually higher than pre-pandemic times. In other words, they’re not raising prices faster than their cost. They’re getting hit by inflation, too.
3. 👍 Up and Up - But (and you knew there was a “but” coming) corporate profits, at least in Minnesota, are up. Weird, right?
4. 🆙 And Up and Up - Corporations based in the state including Graco, Sleep Number, Polaris, and Ecolab have all been fairly up front about incoming price increases before the end of the year. So get ready.
5. 💸 Take My Money - Here’s something else that bucks the normal trend: consumer spending has been consistently strong throughout the pandemic. Everything is expensive and that isn’t stopping us from buying everything.

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🔥Bottom line: The economy is the wild west and inflation is even wilder. Corporate bigwigs are flashing data that says they’re not making money, but it’s also very clear they’re making money. Are we being hustled? That’s up to you to decide. One thing is for certain, they’re not looking to lower their prices any time soon.

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What are you buying?

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