President Biden still can’t get a grip on inflation

Oil prices have been falling steeply, reducing prices at the pumps. Wheat prices have dropped as supplies from Ukraine start to hit the world market again. And supply chains are steadily getting back to normal as trade routes recover from the pandemic, with shipping costs back down to their level at the start of the year. So when the US inflation figures were published on Tuesday, the markets expected both headline and core rates to be coming back down. But — yikes — they were disappointed. Instead, prices are still climbing — and it is becoming more and more clear that President Biden’s wild spending is the real problem.

The inflation numbers are, once again, alarming. Instead of the minor but steady fall most economists were forecasting, the headline CPI rate has risen by 0.1 to 8.3 percent, while the core rate, which excludes volatile fuel and energy prices, was up by 6.3 percent. Those are worrying numbers. With global commodity prices falling back, and with the Federal Reserve steadily increasing interest rates, inflation should be coming back under control by now — not going back up again.

It is no longer possible to blame the pandemic. That is fading into the past. Nor can the war in Ukraine be easily fingered as the main culprit. Oil and wheat, the two main commodities impacted by the conflict, are both back at normal historical levels.

Instead, it has become clear that Biden’s vast spending program launched when he took office, and financed by printed money, has created an artificial boom in the US. Even worse, Biden keeps on doubling down on the same programs. He has just spent another $220 billion forgiving student debt — a handout to the rich since the upper earnings limit is a generous $125,000 — which will only add to demand.

And a few weeks before that his laughably misnamed Inflation Reduction Act added another $360 billion in extra spending, most of it on combating climate change. Those causes may well be worthwhile, but they are not going to help to control prices. In reality, it now looks unlikely that inflation will come under control so long as Biden remains in the White House. He doesn’t get that his spending is the main reason it keeps climbing, or that it won’t start to ease back until he brings the federal government back under control. It will be up to his successor to clean up the mess — but that is at least two years away.

This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.