#profiteering

mlansbury@despora.de

Save NHS dentistry and make it fit for the 21st century

I’m Tom Thayer, a hospital consultant. I treat patients left with horrifying mouth injuries after trying to pull out their own teeth out.
Everyone who needs an NHS dentist should be able to get an appointment.

But overstretched and underfunded, there are now fewer and fewer #NHS #dentists available. A recent survey found nine out of ten practices are no longer taking on new NHS patients

Petition:
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-nhs-dentistry-2

#CutsKill #ToryDictatorship #dentists #ToryScum #profiteering #PeopleNotProfits #ToriesOut

libramoon@diaspora.glasswings.com

https://www.commondreams.org/news/corporate-profiteering-inflation
JAKE JOHNSON
Dec 07, 2023

Study Shows #Corporate #Profiteering 'Amplified' Global #Inflation

The new report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and Common Wealth argues that while corporate profiteering was not the "sole driver of inflation," the market dominance of a few powerful companies "amplified" economywide price increases.

Examining the profits of major firms listed on the stock exchanges of five countries, the analysis shows that many large corporations were able to keep their margins stable or even boost them—as in the case of major oil and gas companies like ExxonMobil—during pandemic-related turmoil and global energy market disruptions caused by Russia's attack on Ukraine.

The researchers estimated that the profits of major corporations, bolstered by a relatively small number of companies, were at least 30% higher at the end of last year than they were at the end of 2019, prior to the coronavirus crisis.
...
Jung argued that economists have focused "too much on the labor market" as a source of inflationary pressure. The U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks have explicitly targeted job markets by jacking up interest rates in a bid to rein in inflation, which has cooled substantially from its peak.

"In fact, most wage earners have taken real losses while many businesses protected their profit margins or even raised them," Jung noted. "We should be scrutinizing the role profits have played in amplifying inflation."

To prevent corporations from exploiting future inflation shocks, Jung and Hayes called for a "new international approach to taxing excess profits," which they said would help "reduce inefficient behavior by dominant corporations." The Economistestimated in July that excess corporate profits globally hit around $4 trillion over the past year.

Other interventions, such as price caps, could "help stabilize markets during economic emergencies," Jung and Hayes added.

"Such fiscal measures have been applied by about half of European economies in the last two years, and were found to be effective in helping to lower inflation," they wrote."...

ramnath@nerdpol.ch

https://youtube.com/watch?v=VaJCUDOE6UA

#Preplanned #Post-War #Profiteering
In the final analysis, one wonders whether corruption might actually be a primary driver of this war. Is the American public being robbed and #Ukraine drained of its youths while a relatively small number of corrupt individuals stuff their pockets with cash?

It looks that way, especially in light of the news that #BlackRock, which already owns most of the private assets in the world, is positioning itself to profit from a post-war Ukraine. As reported by Business Today in early May 2023:30

"President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, recently met with the management team of BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company, to discuss the creation of an investment fund aimed at restoring the country's economy through public and private capital. Netzines have not taken well to the news with many criticizing Zelensky over the meeting.

A Twitter user said, ‘Taxpayers pay the war bills, private firms get the profits.’ ‘Ukraine being privatized and sold off to companies like Blackrock,’ another said.

According to the press service of the Office of the President, the parties discussed the details of the investment fund's creation and implementation of large-scale business projects in Ukraine."

The U.S. is also keen on Ukraine privatizing its banks,31 which will open the door for central bankers to take over. And let’s not forget that the big picture plan for Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction is to turn the whole country into smart cities with "smart governments" run by artificial intelligence.32,33

It’s also a testing ground for #warfare-related #AI technologies34,35 said to be "paving the way for AI #warfare in the #future,"36 although it doesn’t appear to provide them with much advantage at the moment.

In short, it appears American and European taxpayers are paying for the destruction of Ukraine and the elimination of huge numbers of its inhabitants, so that technocrat globalists and central bankers can then profit from the privatization and rebuilding of Ukraine into a "smart country" model for the rest of the #world."

brainwavelost@nerdpol.ch

In the midst of a brutal conflict in #Ukraine, two of the world’s financial titans, #BlackRock and #JPMorgan Chase, are seemingly leading the charge in an ostensible #humanitarian effort. They are helping to establish the Ukraine Development Fund, a reconstruction bank designed to steer public seed capital into projects that can attract hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment. However, as those who are familiar with the words of Gen. Smedley Butler might ask, is this #really an #altruistic endeavor, or just another face of the long-standing war racket?

The echoes of Halliburton’s billion-dollar contracts during the #Iraq war are deafening. These corporations, the backbone of the military-industrial complex, have found a golden opportunity in mass #murder. The strategy is as lucrative as it is grotesque: #profiteering from death, destruction, and then the subsequent #taxpayer-funded #reconstruction of the rubble they helped to create — all while maintaining a veneer of benevolence.

When we delve into the intricacies of the Ukraine Development Fund, the disturbing reality begins to surface. The World Bank estimates that Ukraine would need a whopping $411 billion to rebuild after the war. Here, BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase see a bountiful harvest. The roles they will play in leveraging taxpayer funds provide them with the potential for #astronomical #profits that would easily dwarf any of their alleged “donated” services.

more

psych@diasp.org

So....

Shell Reports Highest Profit in 115 Years

No surprise oil co's are profiting hand over fist now, with record high consumer prices, and associated all-time profits. Well, 115 yeqrs.
I'm still chewing on that 115 year stat. Comparing 2023 with 106 years ago? What were gas prices and profit margins like then?

The Model T Ford appeared in 1908, and Shell's record profits came in ... 1908!
Coincidence? True, 'fun fact'.

#Shell #Oil #OilProfits #Profiteering #Consumer #Prices #ShellOil #Petrol

hipstre@diasp.org

Accelerating Downfall
I am so fucking #angry all the time. Everything is getting worse, and the rate is accelerating. The #price of #everything I #buy to live has gone up more than 100% in the last two years. The #pricegouging and #profiteering is #endless. #Inflation is 7%, not 50%, and everyone else is… I have always been human fucking garbage. I always will be. My life is getting worse every year. It's unrelenting. I have to fucking commit #suicide. There is no way out. It's all getting worse and accelerating. I am already behind. I am already a loser piece of shit. I am #fat. I am #old. I am #ugly. I am #poor. I am #worthless. And there is NO WAY OUT. I have to commit suicide. I #hate my life more and more every day. I hate everyone around me. I hate myself. There is no path away from this. Don't respond saying that there is a path, but it's not an easy path. All that is saying is that I could get out, but I am #lazy. And I have already established that I am #fucking #worthless #human #garbage who should kill himself. But I am too much of a #coward to kill myself. I have to go on pointlessly suffering for some reason. I just hope someone kills me. If you know who I am, please kill me. I deserve a slow, painful death, but I ask for #mercy, and that you please make my #death #quick and #painless. I won't fight. I mean, I won't fight if I don't know what's coming. Shoot me in the back of the head or something. I #hope you get away with it. But ultimately I don't fucking care (See? Worthless Human Garbage). There is no point to your fucking worthless life either. But for what it's worth I hope you succeed and evade #legal #problems for my #murder, which I #deserve, I assure you. Kill me, please. There is no point in this going on.

escheche@diasp.org
dashboardvogon@diasp.org

RenewEconomy: Santos windfall: Australia is swimming in subsidised gas and we’re giving it away.

Santos on Wednesday reported an underlying profit for the first half of 2022 of $US1,267 million, a massive increase of 300%.

Much of this is war profiteering and selling gas that was destined for the domestic market in direct contravention of the undertakings given when they built their export plants. Santos categorically stated its project would not affect the domestic market because it would not buy gas out of the domestic market.

But that is exactly what it has done. Santos bought large volumes of gas out of the domestic market in the first half of 2022, forcing domestic prices above export prices in the last six months.

These actions have generated super profits, gouged from domestic gas consumer and forcing up domestic electricity prices to unaffordable levels. Santos has broken its approval conditions and IEEFA calls on the government to cancel their export licence.

https://reneweconomy.com.au/santos-windfall-australia-is-swimming-in-subsidised-gas-and-were-giving-it-away/

#australia #gas-crisis #subsidies #profiteering #taxdatass