As the White House tries to mitigate the consequences of record-setting inflation, President Biden notes the administration can do little in the short term to lower high energy and food prices, reports The Wall Street Journal.
“There’s a lot going on right now, but the idea we’re going to be able to, you know, click a switch, bring down the cost of gasoline, is not likely in the near term, nor is it with regard to food,” Biden said Wednesday, in a statement.
Biden further posited that taxes on corporations and the wealthy could be increased to help pay for deficit reduction and provide relief for families. The Wall Street Journal notes that the Fed is taking the brunt of tapering inflation, rather than the administration, and some forecasters anticipate an impending recession.
Biden’s comments on the state of the economy followed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s assertion that her original inflation projections were wrong. Last year, Yellen said that the U.S. economy faced a minimal, manageable risk of inflation. “I think I was wrong then about the path that inflation would take,” Yellen told CNN. “There have been unanticipated and large shocks to the economy that have boosted energy and food prices and supply bottlenecks that have affected our economy badly that I didn’t, at the time, fully understand.”
Biden administration officials have maintained their policies like the $1.9 trillion aid package to propel U.S. economic recovery, which has faced Republican dissension. Full Story (Subscription Required).
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