Perception and Reality - How They Vary

Earlier today I came across this posting by Mark Perry, in which he quickly summarized some results of a study that compared the public perception of the profitability of companies versus the reality.  The simple graph is quite telling and effectively communicates just how divorced public perception is from reality.

Now we all know that levels of profitability can be manipulated to some degree by clever accounting and effective use of the tax code, but this is really quite a difference.

Here is the link to the posting by Dr. Perry:
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www.aei.org/publication/the-public-thinks-the-average-company-makes-a-36-profit-margin-which-is-about-5x-too-high-part-ii/