The staid Christian Science Monitor, certainly not a right-wing publication, reported last week that "inflation hit a 30-year high last month," according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those of us who've been to the gas station or the grocery store recently already knew that.
"The U.S. consumer price index is up 6.2 percent over the past 12 months," the Monitor continued. "Even considering the volatile sectors of energy (gas is up 50 percent) and food, inflation over the past year still rose nearly 5 percent, the highest rate since 1991."
So what is the Biden administration doing about the worst inflation in 30 years? you might ask. It's adding fuel to the fire, according to leading economists like former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, who was a top economic adviser to presidents Clinton and Obama. He warned earlier this year that "the inflation risk is real" and advised Biden to cut back on his multi-trillion-dollar "Build Back Better" programs.
Summers quoted fellow Democratic economist Jason Furman, who said Biden's American Rescue Plan (Build Back Better) "is too big for the moment. I don't know of any economist who was recommending something the size of what was done."
"One irony of inflation is that while it's bad for working Americans, it's great for the government," opined the Wall Street Journal, noting that "state and local governments have never had so much dough. … State tax revenue for the fiscal year starting in July through October is running nearly 25 percent over budget estimates."
"Taxpayers in conservative states like West Virginia and Arizona will end up subsidizing expanded welfare states like California and New York," the Journal continued. "Better to call the whole thing off."
Obviously, Biden's plan to tax and spend his way out of inflation isn't working. As Wall Street Journal columnist William Galston wrote last week, "Strap yourself in, inflation isn't going away. … Two of the factors most often blamed for disruptions that lead to price hikes – shortages of computer chips and the snarled supply chain – won't abate as quickly as policymakers hope." Galston cited "evidence that emerging inflationary pressures are structural, not temporary," as Biden claims.
Another Journal columnist, William McGurn, said the president "is now trying to sell Americans the biggest 'free lunch' in history," but we're not buying it.
Inflation will be a major issue in midterm elections next year along with Biden's continuing border crisis and his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, among other issues. There are many reasons why the president's approval ratings are down around 40 percent, but inflation is a main reason why he's about as popular, or as unpopular, as ex-President Trump was at this point in his chaotic presidency.
Guy W. Farmer is the Appeal's senior political columnist.
