Joe Biden has a fall guy to help him with his inflation woes. Maybe “fall girl” is the right terminology. I would never want to misgender anyone.
Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary, recently gave an interview. She had the distinction of being the first person in Biden’s administration to admit that they were wrong about inflation. Yellen offered a variety of excuses and claimed she couldn’t have predicted what was to come.
This is so true! Take a look at the clip:
.@SecYellen on inflation being transitory: “I was wrong then about the path that inflation would take. As I mentioned, there have been unanticipated and large shocks to the economy […] that I, at the time, didn’t fully understand.” https://t.co/AlrXn4kT0r pic.twitter.com/9tqxo0iA3B
— The Hill (@thehill) June 1, 2022
Yellen admits that inflation is caused by high food and gas prices. This is a stark departure from the insulting narrative that Biden used to tell us that inflation is mostly driven by used car prices. She attributes these woes to “unanticipated, large shocks in the economy,” which includes the supply chain that is managed by Pete Buttigieg, do-nothing Transportation Secretary. Yellen also failed in her responsibility for Vladimir Putin. This may get her a rebuke inside the White House, as Russia is their excuse.
But is it possible that these “unanticipated large shocks to the economy” were really unanticipated? It’s simply not true. Larry Summers, a former top Obama economic advisor, warned that the $2 trillion spending plan would flood an already overheated economy with too much “free” money. He called it the “least responsible economic policy” in 40 years.
Summers spoke on Bloomberg Television’s Wall Street Week on Friday to discuss his economic predictions in light of the relief package.
Summers stated that this was the most reckless macroeconomic policy in the past 40 years.
Since his comments made over a year ago, Summers has been proved right numerous times. The American Rescue Plan was the biggest driver of the current crisis. It did indeed spike inflation. What? People could work for a few more months, schools could receive billions of dollars that they didn’t require, and special interests could be funded. Is it worth the extra money you spend just to live your own life?
In other words, Yellen’s claim that the administration couldn’t have foreseen what was about to happen is blatantly false. This is what makes the actions even worse. They were aware of what was coming, but saw an opportunity to “transform the economy” and they took it. It doesn’t matter how many people were hurt or continue to be hurt along this journey.
While Yellen’s admissions are welcome, they’re also deeply cynical. Although Yellen oversees the distribution of the money it was Biden that signed the ridiculous spending bill. Biden is ultimately responsible for this, but Yellen understands that she can accept the fall and not be held accountable. This is yet another sign of her deep partisanship.
Unfortunately, what’s been done is done. And those who have lost their livelihood over the past year are not allowed to admit failure. Biden led the economy off the cliff and stagflation is now. There is only one way out: a lot of pain.
