Newly released data on corporate profitability for 2012 show
the continuation of historic levels of profitability despite excessive
unemployment and stagnant wages for most workers. Specifically, the
share of capital income (such as profits and interest, which are
hereafter referred to as ‘profits’) in the corporate sector increased to
25.6 percent in 2012, the highest in any year since 1950-1951 and far
higher than the 19.9 percent share prevailing over 1969-2007, the five
business cycles preceding the financial crisis.