consistently failed to clarify the nature and magnitude of overall profit. No economist, though, would deny that profit is an …

macroeconomic profitability. Measurement issues include the treatment of holding gains on physical assets and net financial … work has focused on the identification of trends and shifts in profit rates not caused by cyclical fluctuations, and … include capital deepening stimulated by a reduction in the cost of capital funds; profit squeezes caused by some combination …

We show that public firm profit rates fell by half since 1980. Inferred as the residual from the rise of US corporate … profit rates in aggregate data, private firm profit rates doubled since 1980. Public firm financial returns matched their … fall in profit rates, while public firm representativeness increased from 30% to 60% of the US capital stock. These results …