It's hard out here for a Job Creator.
(via Fortune)
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Just four years after the worst shock to the economy since the Great Depression, U.S. corporate profits are stronger than ever.
In the third quarter, corporate earnings were $1.75 trillion, up 18.6% from a year ago, according to last week'si gross domestic product report. That took after-tax profits to their greatest percentage of GDP in history. [...]
Profits accounted for 11.1% of the U.S. economy last quarter, compared with an average of 8% during the previous economic expansion. They fell as low as 4.6% of GDP during the recession.
If after-tax profits have reached their highest point in history, does that mean they can afford to pay a little more? No?
Wages are also at their lowest share of GDP in history, so it hardly seems fair to argue that "costs" or "uncertainty" are as big of an impediment to business as Corporate America would like you to believe.