FLASHBACK: Biden Said Long-Term Inflation Would Be ‘Highly Unlikely’
Inflation was at 1.4 percent when Biden took office in January
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Under Joe Biden, inflation hit a high not seen in America in forty years, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In the biggest jump in decades, prices year-over-year increased by 6.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the core price index sat at 4.6 percent, the highest since 1991.
But inflation was at 1.4 percent when Biden took office in January.
By April, it has soared to 4.2 percent.
By May, it was at 5 percent.
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Biden has remained dismissive that this would be a long-term inflation problem — because Wall Street said so.
Earlier this year Biden said:
“We also know that as our economy has come roaring back, we’ve seen some price increases.
“Some folks have raised worries that this could be a sign of persistent inflation — but that’s not our view,” he continued.
“Our experts believe and the data shows that most of the price increases we’ve seen were expected and expected to be temporary.”
He also said in July “the vast majority of the experts — including Wall Street — are suggesting that it’s highly unlikely that it’s going to be long-term inflation, that it’s going to get out of hand.”
Take Jared Bernstein, a member of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, said:
“From the start, we were clear that inflation would firm as the rescue plan got shots in arms and checks in pockets."
“The reason these price pressures are upon us is getting lost: There’s an extremely robust recovery afoot, with strong job creation and wage gains for workers who finally have some bargaining clout.”
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CNBC reported that wage increases haven’t been able to keep up with inflation
As The Western Journal noted:
As the financial network noted in September, many analysts were concerned about how rising wages and the labor shortage were inducing inflation numbers to rise. It seems that if you pay people more money for the same work, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to be any better off — particularly if that causes costs to rise.
“Inflation hurts Americans pocketbooks, and reversing this trend is a top priority for me,” Biden said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The largest share of the increase in prices in this report is due to rising energy costs — and in the few days since the data for this report were collected, the price of natural gas has fallen.”
“Other price increases reflect the ongoing struggle to restore smooth operations in the economy in the restart: I am traveling to Baltimore today to highlight how my Infrastructure Bill will bring down these costs, reduce these bottlenecks and make goods more available and less costly."
"And I want to reemphasize my commitment to the independence of the Federal Reserve to monitor inflation and take steps necessary to combat it.”
According to The Hill, Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, said its just the beginning:
“The costs for low-wage households to cover their commuting costs, grocery bills, and rents are eating into the jump they have seen in wages,” Swonk wrote.
“The public is angry.”
“Inflation is sizzling and will likely get hotter before it cools.”
