logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2023
40m 23s

Companies Are Telling Us the Real Reason...

bloomberg
About this episode

The persistence of inflation is a bit of a mystery to economists. Many of the shocks of the last few years have faded. And the Fed has raised rates aggressively, with seemingly only a modest impact. So why are companies still raising prices? If you listen, they actually explain a lot of their reasoning on corporate conference calls. On this episode of the podcast, we speak with Samuel Rines, managing director at Corbu, who has gone through numerous transcripts and come to the conclusion that management teams are still being rewarded for "price over volume" strategies. Companies in this environment are happy to sacrifice a bit of volume sales in order to keep moving through large price increases. He walks us through what he's learned from companies like Wingstop, Tractor Supply, and PepsiCo. And he talks about what you should expect to see when the inflationary urge finally starts to crest.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Today
John Ganz on the Era When America Was Consumed by Panic With Corporate Japan
These days, there's a non-stop drumbeat of concern that China and its dominant companies will eat America's economic lunch, so to speak. Of course, this isn't the first time in our history that there were worries about a rising Asian industrial power. In the 1980s and early 1990s ... Show More
47m 17s
Yesterday
Why the Price of Money Surged in the Last 6 Years
What changed between 2019 and 2025? Why are interest rates so much higher? Why does it seem virtually unfathomable that the Fed will return to ZIRP anytime soon? Why do investors expect this rate cut cycle to be so shallow? The answer, theoretically, is that the neutral rate of i ... Show More
42m 55s
Oct 6
James van Geelen on the Next Phase of the AI Buildout
Money has been flowing into the AI space, with billions pouring into GPU clusters, data centers, gas turbines, and the infrastructure needed to train and deploy bigger and bigger models. So what comes next? On this episode, we speak with James van Geelen, founder of Citrini Resea ... Show More
38m 38s
Recommended Episodes
May 2021
Inflation Shocker
A shockingly high reading in the consumer price index landed with a bang in markets this week. Zachary Griffiths, a macro strategist with Wells Fargo, joined the “What Goes Up” podcast to discuss what inflation pressures he’s got his eye on and why he doesn’t think the latest num ... Show More
40m 34s
Mar 2022
Two inflation Indicators: Corporate greed and mortgage rates
Corporate profits are soaring. So are prices. Can corporations just not raise prices? Would that fight inflation? We examine this theory making the rounds. Then, we go inside the pipes of the economy to see how mortgage rates connect to that recent rate hike by the Federal Reserv ... Show More
18m 17s
May 2023
Inflation and the Profit-Price Spiral
Economists say that inflation is just too much money chasing too few goods. But something else can make inflation stick around. If you think of the 1970s, the last time the U.S. had really high sustained inflation, a big concern was rising wages. Prices for goods and services wer ... Show More
26m 39s
Jul 2023
Mike Wilson: Expanding Valuations in Equity Markets
Rapidly declining inflation poses a challenge to revenue growth and earnings. So what should investors look out for to identify the winners from here? ----- Transcript -----Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Mike Wilson, Chief Investment Officer and Chief U.S. Equity Strategi ... Show More
3m 22s
Jul 2022
How much is high inflation costing you?
The cost of living is rising at its fastest pace for 40 years, and economists warn prices will increase further this autumn — with some fearing annual inflation could hit 15 per cent.On this week’s episode, presenter Claer Barrett hears how the soaring cost of fuel, energy bills ... Show More
24m 30s
Jun 2023
Money Talks: What happens if inflation sticks?
Over the past two years, inflation has been full of surprises. Central bankers are now facing up to the very real possibility that bringing sticky inflation down to their 2% targets could bring deep economic pain. Some analysts are starting to ask whether they might be tempted to ... Show More
40m 55s
Jun 2023
Money Talks: What happens if inflation sticks?
Over the past two years, inflation has been full of surprises. Central bankers are now facing up to the very real possibility that bringing sticky inflation down to their 2% targets could bring deep economic pain. Some analysts are starting to ask whether they might be tempted to ... Show More
40m 55s
Jul 2022
Are big corporate profits to blame for inflation?
Greedflation. Price gouging. Pandemic profiteering. What happens when turning a profit is considered a bad thing? In this week’s episode, the FT’s US business editor Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson explains how a new message around corporate profits is resonating with the American publ ... Show More
18m 51s
Dec 2023
Allow us to explain
When it comes to economic talk, inflation is a major topic these days. But the word for “getting inflation to slow down a bit” isn’t as well known. In this episode, we’ll talk to economists who tell us what the difference is between “disinflation” and “deflation” and why the Fede ... Show More
27m 22s