superprofit
Beyond normal returns
Superprofit is profit exceeding normal or expected returns—what a business earns beyond the standard rate of profit in its industry.
The term appears in Marxist economics to describe excess value extracted through monopoly power, colonial exploitation, or other advantages that insulate a firm from competition: Multinationals extract superprofits from developing nations.
Also used more loosely for any unusually high earnings: Tech giants have enjoyed superprofits during the pandemic.
Sudden large windfall
- jackpotAccumulated gambling prize
- goldmineRich ore deposit
- boomLoud deep sound
- fortuneWealth or destiny
bounty · speculation · bubble · arbitrage
Gaining through system manipulation
- oligopolyFew firms dominate market
- cartelPrice-fixing coalition
- price-fixingCoordinated artificial cost-setting
- antitrustAgainst corporate market dominance
concentration · dominance · cornering · trust-busting · collusion
Exceptionally large in scale
- disproportionateNot properly scaled
- supernormalBeyond ordinary limits
- extortionateUnreasonably high in cost
- unconscionableMorally unacceptable, beyond reason
usurious · gouging · markup · margin · premium · differential · spread · alpha
Selfish use of others
- extractionAct of removing
- capitalWealth used for investment
- accumulationCollected mass over time
- appropriationUnauthorized claiming or allocation
commodification · alienation · proletariat · bourgeoisie · valorization
Unequal distribution of resources
- plutocracyRule by the rich
- oligarchyRule by few
- trickle-downTheory wealth spreads below
- neoliberalismPro-market, anti-regulation ideology
deregulation · financialization · corporatism · cronyism · offshore · robber-baron · austerity · redistribution
bonanza
Sudden large windfall
fortune · bounty · speculation · bubble · arbitrage
rent-seeking
Gaining through system manipulation
- oligopolyFew firms dominate market
- cartelPrice-fixing coalition
- price-fixingCoordinated artificial cost-setting
antitrust · concentration · dominance · cornering · trust-busting · collusion
outsize
Exceptionally large in scale
- disproportionateNot properly scaled
- supernormalBeyond ordinary limits
- extortionateUnreasonably high in cost
unconscionable · usurious · gouging · markup · margin · premium · differential · spread · alpha
exploitation
Selfish use of others
- extractionAct of removing
- capitalWealth used for investment
- accumulationCollected mass over time
appropriation · commodification · alienation · proletariat · bourgeoisie · valorization
inequality
Unequal distribution of resources
- plutocracyRule by the rich
- oligarchyRule by few
- trickle-downTheory wealth spreads below
neoliberalism · deregulation · financialization · corporatism · cronyism · offshore · robber-baron · austerity · redistribution
superprofitloss
Being without something
deficit · break-even · net loss · operating loss · economic loss