Biden Respectfully Reminds You Inflation Is Fed’s Thing
Over the last 48 hours, Joe Biden made it pretty clear who voters should blame if inflation doesn't recede sometime between now and the midterm elections. Spoiler alert: Not him.
Biden addressed inflation, the Fed and the Fed's role in containing inflation, at the White House on Tuesday, but before that, he published an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal.
"I have made tackling inflation my top economic priority," Biden wrote, introducing a three-part "plan." Part one entails preemptively blaming
Amen. I’d offer something mechanical for monetary policy like tying it to population growth or another economic metric. Something that revokes the ability of the street to ‘converse’ with policy.
H-Man. I mean. really, empty your soul on everything ……….best note ever. I would rather be the dog catcher than Fed chair. Joe is a Russian tank that has just been hit by a javelin. Trump continues as the cheerleader. Do you really think equities are not going to get pounded in the near term with this “A” team?
Excellent summary, Especially paragraphs 11 and 12.
The idea of assigning blame or avoiding blame for inflation is a non-starter. The public/voters may take it out on the Democrats. That is their privelege. The problem is the policy alternatives are no better and are likely worse. And policymakers are really not to blame. So Biden and Powell are the punching bags. It is sad and pathetic. Take a look around the developed world. Are other countries in better shape economically in terms of inflation and growth right now? (perhaps in income distribution but that is another story). Look at Great Britain- if you want to see a real mess…..
The reality is, it’s nobody’s “fault.” But right now, more than ever, Americans want to blame someone for everything, large and small. And inflation isn’t a small thing.
Right, Ria. I wouldn’t want to be Boris Johnson. The table where he plays his cards certainly differs.
We all play with the cards we’re dealt. And some of us have more or better cards. Joe Biden is the US President, and I do not fault him for just being himself. He was bought and paid for by American voters, and I was one of them. But I do wish he would hang up his spikes in regard to a second term. That said, if I was in his shoes, pointing the finger at Jerome Powell as a political scapegoat would be a no-brainer, as has always been the case, and an option for US presidents with their Fed chairs.
I’m not so worried about the economy as much as our politics. Over and above your comments about the Fed and policy and Biden, I’m concerned about the always evolving state of oligarchy on the US political landscape, and its balance against individual political engagement. There has always been political money from the moneyed, and it will always be a reality. But the open spigot of money from the moneyed, including foreign money, will continue to be a problem in US politics. Alongside that, individuals must understand and appreciate the wealth realized through political engagement.
Putin’s actions in Ukraine shine the light of truth on Russia’s current political state. Trump’s autocratic tendencies did not help matters in the US. The same goes for the so-called republicans, who express autocratic tendencies. But not the “Party of Lincoln” Republicans, who seem to be evolving separately, but very slowly. These US realities juxtaposed against Putin’s autocratic oligarchy certainly make one think.
The United States of America have a conservative – that is, not radical – history. Misguided members of the House and Senate need to understand the meaning of the lots they cast in the light of the American identity. Those that continue to incline their votes in a radical direction may be rewarded by a minority of voters that share their inclinations. And they may bluster all they wish, as they always seem to be inclined. But their power, like the echoes of their bluster, should be limited according to the volume of their voters.
Needless to say, with inflation, global energy distribution challenges, market disruptions, and an always changing, steaming pot of issues, we have a lot on our plate. But the United States is not Russia. Thankfully, nor is Trump (or Biden) the United States. In light of our current, stark political choices, I’m hoping the 2022 and 2024 election cycles will help to paint the political landscape more clearly.
Bending his knee to Trump still looks awful. The show they have control on things leads to what commenters have said about even “regular” people seeing how congress and the fed’s pandemic actions affect them on the functional level before inflation took off.
The concern for breaking the system with monetary policy and demeaning their livelihood, not Powell, seemed more pertinent than whether the well off could benefit exponentially from low rates. That’s what I’ve gathered at least.