An economist has criticised claims that business profits are driving up inflation, calling it an “incoherent narrative.”
His comments come as businesses come into the firing line of commentators, politicians, and the Reserve Bank of Australia amid rising inflation in the country.
Australia’s official inflation rate has risen in lockstep with fellow democratic nations like the United States, Canada, and New Zealand—following the widespread deployment of lockdowns and government handouts during the pandemic—as of the June quarter, the official inflation is 6.1 percent.
“The narrative implies that only until a couple of years ago businesses weren’t greedy. For the last 40 years they were just benevolent philanthropists,” said John Humphreys, chief economist of the Australian Taxpayers Alliance….