Maybe they have in mind profit margins as a percentage of sales. Yet by that standard Exxon's profits don't seem so large. Exxon's profit margin stood at 10% for 2007, which is hardly out of line with the oil and gas industry average of 8.3%, or the 8.9% for U.S. manufacturing (excluding the sputtering auto makers).

If that's what constitutes windfall profits, most of corporate America would qualify.Chemicals had an average margin of 12.7%. Computers: 13.7%. Electronics and appliances: 14.5%. Pharmaceuticals (18.4%) and beverages and tobacco (19.1%) round out the Census Bureau's industry rankings.
But if 10% is the new standard, the tech industry is going to have to rethink its growth arc. LG, the electronics company, saw its profits grow by 505% in 2007. General Electric profits by investing in the alternative energy technology that Obama says Congress should subsidize GE's profit margin in 2007 was 10.3%, about the same asExxon's.