Corporate profits hit a new record in the U.S. in the third quarter of this year. At least, that was the headline after the data were released Tuesday. It was kind of a meaningless distinction: In a growing economy, even a fitfully growing one, corporate profits should hit new records on a pretty regular basis. Personal income hit a new record in the third quarter, too. Indications are that inflation-adjusted corporate profits are probably still slightly below the levels of before the Great Recession (the Bureau of Economic Analysis doesn’t adjust the main corporate profit number for inflation, because — given all the profits that flow in from overseas — it doesn’t know what inflation rate to use).