CORPORATE PROFITS

According to the BEA, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Profits before taxes increased $234.3 billion in the first quarter of 2012, that is January, February, and March.

According to Investing Caffiene, With the majority of S&P 500 companies having reported their quarterly results for the first quarter, three-fourths of the companies are beating forecasted earnings, which are currently registering in at a respectable +7.1% rate (Thomson Reuters).

According to the New York Times, Business Day, Corporate profits declined last quarter, ticking down by $6.4 billion or 0.3 percent in seasonally adjusted annual terms. A small decline, yes, but it was also the first decline since the fourth quarter of 2008, when the great recession was still raging. Last quarter being April, May, and June.

Please excuse my ignorance,

but if Corporate Profits have been up

since the fourth quarter of 2008,

why has there been a correlation

of layoffs resulting in high

unemployment since 2008?

I understand the business cycle and the 4 quarters, which are:

January – February – March

April – May – June

July – August – September

October – November – December

I also understand that every 90 day or 1 quarter, companies that sell stock typically pay their stockholders a dividend.

I also understand that business decisions are typically made based upon dividends paid, not necessarily what is in the best interests of the employee or the customer.

So, is this the reason why

employees have been laid off?

I also understand that corporations and businesses put plants in foreign countries and hire overseas workers because the compensation for these workers is less that in the US.

I also understand that oftentimes corporations and businesses operating in overseas jurisdictions pay no health benefits for those foreign workers.

So, is this the reason why

employees have been laid off?

Is this profit/loss that corporations and businesses seem to be suffering under similar to the Glaxo SK debacle recently, where they agreed to pay 3 billion in fines after making over 16 billion in profits as a result of ignoring the laws?

If you had the opportunity to see the movie, The Philadelphia Story, with Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks, you would have seen Denzel playing a lawyer who when in court, ask the witness to

“. . .  explain it to him

as if he were a 3^rd grader.”

I have always thought that was a classic line and have often used it in my college classes when asking students to explain a business or management concept.

So please,

explain this to me

as if I were a 3^rd grader:

Why are we blaming President Obama for the high levels of sustained unemployment when it is clearly not his fault but the greed of corporations and businesses who want to please, no pacify, their stockholders?

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

This has nothing to do with the “dirty tricks” that the Republicans used against the Democrats years ago; nor, does it have anything to do with the “voter suppression” tactics the Republicans have used and continue to use against the Democrats; but, it has everything to do with our unethical businessmen (and women) who continue to exploit Americans because they have the wealth and power to do so.

We are living in a Republic that unfortunately has been so distorted since its inception that it has allowed this sort of disgrace to survive and to perpetuate itself, under the guise of the “free market enterprise system,” which is precisely why Keynesian Economics was created.

John Maynard Keynes

So,

with all this Corporate Profit,

why are Corporations and Businesses

not hiring?