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Inflation: Former Labor Secretary says, ‘Fatter corporate profits are driving inflation’

Former Labor Secretary under the Obama administration Tom Perez speaks on the ongoing inflation crisis and how fatter corporate profits and margins are a key contributor to it.

Video transcript

TOM PEREZ: The cost of a lot of things has gone up. The cost of a gallon of gas has gone up. The cost of food has gone up. It touches people in a very real way. But I do think it's really, really important to underscore that inflation is not being driven by an overheated labor market. You know, when you look at what causes inflation, there are basically three things-- labor costs. And then there's non labor inputs, like your overhead. And then there's profits.

And there was a recent report done by the Economic Policy Institute, I believe, showing that over half of what's driving inflation have been driven by fatter corporate profits, the markups that the companies are taking, whether it's soup or whether it's other items that they're selling. I think that's something that we need to understand, as we try to unpack inflation and what the drivers are.