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From: dhenwood@panix.com (Doug Henwood)
Subject: US profit rate
Some time ago I offered a table of the profit rate for US nonfinancial
business. After much delay, here it is.
Doug
--Doug Henwood [dhenwood@panix.com] Left Business Observer 250 W 85 St New York NY 10024-3217 USA +1-212-874-4020 voice +1-212-874-3137 fax
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TANGIBLE ASSETS, PROFITS, AND PROFIT RATE OF NONFINANCIAL CORPORATE BUSINESS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1945-94
(billions of dollars, except percentages)
profits profit rate tangible ------------------ --------------------- year assets before tax after tax before tax after tax 1945 136.8 17.9 7.7 13.1% 5.6% 1946 175.7 22.1 13.5 12.6% 7.7% 1947 211.4 29.2 18.4 13.8% 8.7% 1948 232.2 31.9 20.1 13.7% 8.7% 1949 236.0 25.2 15.9 10.7% 6.7% 1950 267.5 38.7 21.8 14.5% 8.1% 1951 298.7 39.4 18.2 13.2% 6.1% 1952 313.1 34.0 16.2 10.9% 5.2% 1953 328.0 35.1 16.7 10.7% 5.1% 1954 336.3 32.4 16.7 9.6% 5.0% 1955 368.0 42.3 22.1 11.5% 6.0% 1956 410.8 42.2 22.2 10.3% 5.4% 1957 436.6 40.2 21.1 9.2% 4.8% 1958 445.1 34.2 18.0 7.7% 4.0% 1959 463.5 43.6 22.9 9.4% 4.9% 1960 476.9 40.3 21.1 8.5% 4.4% 1961 490.5 40.1 20.7 8.2% 4.2% 1962 509.9 45.0 24.3 8.8% 4.8% 1963 531.5 49.8 27.0 9.4% 5.1% 1964 562.1 56.0 32.1 10.0% 5.7% 1965 606.5 66.2 39.0 10.9% 6.4% 1966 670.4 71.4 41.9 10.7% 6.3% 1967 725.1 67.5 39.7 9.3% 5.5% 1968 798.1 74.0 40.4 9.3% 5.1% 1969 886.5 70.8 37.5 8.0% 4.2% 1970 968.7 58.1 31.0 6.0% 3.2% 1971 1,057.2 67.1 37.1 6.3% 3.5% 1972 1,168.5 78.6 44.8 6.7% 3.8% 1973 1,342.0 98.6 58.4 7.3% 4.4% 1974 1,621.5 109.2 67.0 6.7% 4.1% 1975 1,792.0 109.9 68.4 6.1% 3.8% 1976 1,965.6 137.3 84.4 7.0% 4.3% 1977 2,186.8 158.6 98.7 7.3% 4.5% 1978 2,485.2 183.5 116.4 7.4% 4.7% 1979 2,863.7 195.5 125.9 6.8% 4.4% 1980 3,278.4 181.6 114.6 5.5% 3.5% 1981 3,674.3 181.0 117.1 4.9% 3.2% 1982 3,860.1 132.9 86.7 3.4% 2.2% 1983 3,979.4 155.9 96.4 3.9% 2.4% 1984 4,215.4 189.0 115.4 4.5% 2.7% 1985 4,399.0 165.5 95.6 3.8% 2.2% 1986 4,545.7 149.1 73.5 3.3% 1.6% 1987 4,750.8 212.0 118.5 4.5% 2.5% 1988 5,056.7 256.6 154.9 5.1% 3.1% 1989 5,334.4 232.9 133.3 4.4% 2.5% 1990 5,325.9 232.1 138.3 4.4% 2.6% 1991 5,042.6 212.4 129.3 4.2% 2.6% 1992 4,818.9 253.4 165.5 5.3% 3.4% 1993 4,964.6 293.5 176.7 5.9% 3.6% 1994 5,265.4est 360.1 215.4 6.8% 4.1%
Profit rate = profits/tangible assets. Tangible assets include fixed assets and inventories. 1994 asset figure is an estimate based on yearly investment flow; it is highly approximate, and is only for comparison purposes. Official figures will be released in September 1995. Source: Federal Reserve flow of funds accounts, diskette version, March 1995. The print version is release C.9, Balance Sheets for the U.S. Economy. Prof. Chris Chase-Dunn Department of Sociology Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD. 21218 USA tel 410 516 7633 fax 410 516 7590 email chriscd@jhu.edu