By Byron York. Media: Washingtonexaminer
INFLATION NEVER WENT AWAY. The government announced Wednesday morning that inflation rose 0.4% in March, part of a 3.5% increase on an annual basis. The rise, which clearly means that inflation is not subsiding, took some big media outlets by surprise. The New York Times said the increase in prices was “unexpectedly sharp.” The Washington Post called it “hotter than expected.”
For months, commentators in some of those outlets had praised President Joe Biden for bringing inflation under control. Some actually urged the president to be more aggressive in claiming credit for it. After Wednesday morning, there was less of that kind of talk.
The fact is, inflation has risen slowly but steadily for the last six months. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation rose just 0.1% last October. It rose 0.2% in November and December, 0.3% in January, and now 0.4% in February and March, for an annual basis of 3.5%. It’s been more than six months since inflation ticked downward.
In addition, continued inflation has illustrated the painful fact that the effect of increased prices is cumulative. When inflation slows, as it did after peaking at 9.1% in mid-2022, prices still go up. A politician — say, Joe Biden — can make “inflation is going down” a campaign mantra when prices are still, in fact, going up. “Inflation is not subsiding. It is rising again,” conservative economist Stephen Moore said on Fox Business on Monday, before the new numbers came out. “Look at all of the indicators.”
This is obviously terrible news for consumers. A recent Fox News poll asked the basic question: “Are you better off or worse off financially today than you were four years ago, or about the same?” Fifty-two percent said they were worse off, 22% said they were better off, and 26% said about the same. Given today’s inflation numbers, the worse-off majority is even more worse off now.
Politically, it is more bad news for Biden, whose massive, never-before-seen spending policies contributed to the growth of prices. The Fox News poll found that the economy, broadly defined, is the most important issue for voters in 2024 — 61% of respondents said it was “extremely” important to their vote. And much of Biden’s campaign pitch is that “Bidenomics” is working for the public. Wednesday’s news strongly suggested that is not the case.
As it happened, Biden had a brief press conference scheduled not long after the inflation news broke. (It was a joint appearance with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.) Biden was asked, “How concerned are you about the fight against inflation stalling?”
“We have dramatically reduced inflation from 9% down to close to 3%,” Biden said. “We’re in a situation where we’re better situated than we were when we took office, when inflation was skyrocketing. And we have a plan to deal with it, whereas my opposition talks about two things — they just want to cut taxes for the wealthy and raise taxes on other people. And so I think they have no plan. Our plan is one I think is still sustainable.”
Three things to note about Biden’s statement. One, “still sustainable” is not the most confident-sounding assessment a president can make. Two, inflation was not “skyrocketing” when Biden took office — it would be more accurate to say inflation was “skyrocketing” after Biden took office. And three, Biden’s reflexive reaction to the reporter’s question about inflation was to blame his predecessor, former President Donald Trump. Will that ease the concerns of voters who say they are in worse economic shape than they were four years ago?
For a deeper dive into many of the topics covered in the Daily Memo, please listen to my podcast, The Byron York Show — available on Radio America and the Ricochet Audio Network and everywhere else podcasts can be found.
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