Profit is the driving force of the modern economy, yet reported profits are increasingly becoming products of hyperbole-speculative and exaggerated claims about future income, presented as if they have already come true. Hyperbolic Profit transforms how we think about profit, explaining how contemporary accounting practices, embedded in professional standards and business culture, are used to inflate corporate profits. Dave Elder-Vass shows that this is not merely a technical issue but a serious problem that affects us all. Tenuous profit claims are routinely used to justify vast transfers of wealth to executives and shareholders, intensifying economic inequality. At the same time, this strips corporations of the assets that sustain their long-term solvency, generating systemic financial risk in our economy. This book advocates a new politics of profit-one that prioritises economic resilience, accountability, and collective well-being over short-term enrichment at the top.

‘In this wonderfully accessible book, Elder-Vass takes us through the problem of profit. To do this, he unpacks the complex ‘art' of profit accounting to illustrate the rise of what he calls ‘hyperbolic profit'. The core of his argument is that hyperbolic profit represents both the now necessarily exaggerated statements companies make about their profits and the yield curve that has come to shape the way we understand the value of companies and their activities. Readers should come away infuriated but also enlightened about what we need to do to change the direction of contemporary capitalism.'

Kean Birch - York University, Canada

‘Dave Elder-Vass is a leading scholar in the philosophical movement known as critical realism. In this book, he takes this philosophical perspective in an empirical and highly policy-relevant direction in exploring the role of accounting in constructing notions of profit in contemporary capitalist economies. In doing so, he critically interrogates the social mechanisms and consequences that accompany the often-excessive pursuit of easily manipulable notions of profit and how it has been implicated in the emergence of major, recurring crises. A must-read for those who wish to understand the deeper causes of such crises and possibly prevent their occurrence in an effort to build a fairer and more equitable society.'

Sven Modell - Professor of Management Accounting, Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester

‘Building on his earlier work, Elder-Vass returns to the concept of profit with fresh eyes and develops a novel account of its formulation. If you read this book you'll never think of wealth creators in quite the same way again, nor will you think accountants have the most boring job on Earth – for accountancy, creativity and power go hand in hand.'

Jamie Morgan - Professor, Leeds Beckett University