How Corporations Are Taking Advantage of Inflation
What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Slate Podcasts
4.3 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 17 May 2022
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Consumers are paying higher prices almost everywhere as inflation continues to rise. But corporate earnings calls have revealed that many companies are using inflation as a cover to jack up prices and increase profits — all on the backs of customers.
Guest: Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey everyone. Just wanted to give a special welcome to all of our new listeners from over at Spotify. Yeah, we see you guys. Welcome. And just make sure you go and click that follow button. It'll make sure I am sitting in your feed day in, day out. You won't miss a thing. All right, on with the show. |
| 0:23.6 | For the last few months, Lindsay Owen and our colleagues at the Groundwork Collaborative |
| 0:27.9 | Think Tank have been listening in on these phone calls. |
| 0:31.8 | We combed through and listened in on hundreds of corporate earnings calls. |
| 0:38.7 | These are the quarterly phone calls that, you know, CEOs and CFOs have with their |
| 0:43.9 | investors and shareholders each quarter after they release their quarterly report. |
| 0:48.5 | It's like a corporate pep rally, right? |
| 0:51.4 | It can be a bit of a pep rally, yeah, boosting up the investors trying to juice the share price a little bit. |
| 1:00.1 | Lindsay's been looking for answers about our weird economy at the moment. Specifically, she's looking for the origin of the inflation that's dogging all of us. |
| 1:09.0 | At the grocery store, at the gas pump, just about |
| 1:12.0 | everywhere. Are these corporations feeling pressed right now? Like, are they like, oh, this |
| 1:17.4 | economy, man, it's stretching us. The main takeaway that we had from these earnings calls is |
| 1:22.7 | these CEOs are saying that inflation has been very good for business. |
| 1:33.8 | I'd like to welcome everyone to the Coca-Cola company's first quarter earning results conference call. |
| 1:35.5 | Today's call is being recorded. |
| 1:38.0 | Well, these companies don't use those words exactly. |
| 1:44.6 | But if you listen, it's pretty clear that the weirdness of this economy hits a bit different if you're a multi-billion dollar corporation. |
| 1:46.4 | Let me first start by saying how pleased we are with the results in the first quarter. |
| 1:50.6 | It's also clear. These CEOs, they aren't exactly restraining themselves when it comes to |
| 1:56.0 | pricing. I've talked about our approach to pricing several times, and that is going to lead to more, |
| 2:01.5 | I mean, there are going to be more price increases depending on where you are. |
| 2:04.9 | I mean, there are countries with inflation well into double digits. |
... |
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