Recall that back in July, Joe Biden insisted that ‘no serious economist’ was worried that inflation could be a lingering problem for Americans.
President Biden, speaking with reporters, July 19:
Q Yes, thank you, Mr. President. At what point would you consider inflation unchecked to a point at which you would either consider taking action or you would want to see the Fed take action?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. There’s nobody suggesting there’s unchecked inflation on the way — no serious economist. That’s totally different.
The New York Times, October 10: “There Is Shadow Inflation Taking Place All Around Us”
CNBC, yesterday: “Central banks such as the Federal Reserve should be prepared to tighten policy in case inflation gets out of control, the International Monetary Fund warned in a report Tuesday.”
The Washington Post, this morning: “Prices rise 5.4 percent in September over last year, as delta holds back economic recovery”
Politico, this morning: “BlackRock CEO Larry Fink told Institute of International Finance head Tim Adams in a live Q&A Tuesday that he was less optimistic than other executives. He believes inflation is more than transitory and will ‘be with us longer’ amid supply chain snarls and rising commodity prices. Consumers seeing higher wages will have to spend more and more of their money on energy for heating and transportation, according to the chief of the world’s largest asset manager. He also blamed bigger shifts in U.S. economic policy to focus on jobs rather than consumers, saying that ‘it may come at a cost of higher prices.’”
You may be seeing a pattern in the way the Biden administration handles inflation, the crisis at the border, the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and the Delta variant.
“It happens every single, solitary year: There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. That happens every year.” “I trust the capacity of the Afghan military, who is better trained, better equipped, and more re- — more competent in terms of conducting war… the likelihood there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely.” “Today, we’re closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus.”
The administration has a great difficulty solving problems because it wastes four or five months arguing that the problem is not really a problem.