
Despite the White House’s effort to spin the economic reality in a way that reflects positively on the Biden administration, ordinary Americans across the ideological spectrum continue to see prices across the board tick higher.
The latest inflation numbers show a 3.1% increase last month, which was higher than analysts’ predictions of 2.9%, and continued a trend of price hikes that have dominated President Joe Biden’s term in office thus far.
Despite a clear connection between deficit growth caused by the Biden administration’s big-spending agenda and the rise in costs for various goods and services, the president has attempted to blame companies struggling to maintain a profit under his leadership.
Biden 2024: It’s NOT my fault
❌ The border: It’s Republicans fault.
❌ The economy: It’s Putin’s fault.
❌ Inflation: It’s Shrinkflation’s fault.It’s everyone’s fault… but Biden’s. pic.twitter.com/qIGcB1s6Ll
— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) February 13, 2024
Evidence of higher-than-expected inflation could send ripples through the American economy that could go beyond simply causing hard-working citizens to stretch their budgets even further. Investors and borrowers have been paying close attention to the Federal Reserve’s timeline for reducing interest rates — and stubborn inflation could cause the central bank to postpone such cuts even further.
While the inflation rate had been trending downward during the latter half of 2023, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell last month expressed misgivings about overly optimistic interpretations of the economic data.
“Is it sending us a true signal that we are, in fact, on a path — a sustainable path — down to 2% inflation?” he asked. “That’s the question.”
Inflation Insights founder Omair Sharif shared his opinion that Federal Reserve bankers are justified in his cautious outlook.
“They were right to be patient because this is the kind of number that is going to cast doubt on whether there really is a lot of deceleration in store for inflation,” he said. “This is definitely a spooky number.”
The latest inflation numbers came on the heels of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s admission during a Senate hearing that prices are not likely to come down.
“These high prices caused by Bidenomics are here to stay, aren’t they?” asked Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA).
After some back and forth, Yellen acknowledged: “I don’t expect the level of prices to go down. … Some prices will be higher than they were before the pandemic and will stay higher.”