Millions of voters are concerned about inflation as high costs continue to chip away at our pockets and deplete our wages.
When it comes to dealing with this significant situation, President Biden is resorting to ridiculous deflections, accusing everybody from Russian President Vladimir Putin to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Though if Biden is serious about addressing the problem, he can do a straightforward thing to bring prices down dramatically and aid suffering families: he can lower barriers to trade and tariffs.
Research and Analysis
At least that’s the conclusion of a new policy document from the pro-trade Peterson Center for International Economics.
A recent paper from the Peterson Institute for International Economics shows the tangible effect that smarter trade policies could have, the @WSJ Editorial Board writes. https://t.co/lDr07tmMyi
— Peterson Institute (@PIIE) April 18, 2022
To put this in context, tariffs are basically taxes levied against imported goods.
They are intended to assist in protecting domestic enterprises, but they often have the opposite effect and hurt the economy more than they benefit it.
Furthermore, they will ultimately result in increased prices for American customers at the checkout counter.
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According to the latest analysis, by abolishing tariffs on steel, farm commodities, and other goods, President Biden could save the ordinary household $797 per year.
The paper by Gary Hufbauer, @meganrosehogan, & Yilin Wang finds that a feasible package of liberalization could deliver a one-time reduction in consumer price index (CPI) inflation of around 1.3 percentage points.https://t.co/D7svqFbBTd
— Peterson Institute (@PIIE) April 18, 2022
In the end, the institute estimates this would result in a “one-time drop in consumer price index (CPI) inflation of approximately 1.3 percentage points.”
As the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal points out, “This isn’t a panacea, but while prices continue to rise, the federal government should, at the very least, refrain from making items more expensive on purpose.”
Inevitably, the leftist media’s narrative has been that rising costs are beyond the control of President Biden.
“Out Of His Hands”
As CNN White House analyst John Harwood put it, “there’s not much he can do to keep inflation under control.”
This is a clumsy attempt at a partisan cover fire. Biden has little control over some of the inflation, which is grounded in the Federal Reserve’s issuance of trillions of dollars in new money.
However, by renominating Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and selecting several monetary doves for Fed positions, President Biden has provided his tacit blessing to the Fed.
No one compelled Biden to blow up the budget deficit and push a foolish $1.9 trillion political spending bill immediately after taking office despite widespread opposition.
He made the decision to do so; now, even former Obama administration officials are saying that it was a colossal error that contributed to inflation.
Nobody, with the exception of Biden himself, is standing in the way of Biden’s efforts to bring down high costs by removing red tape from commerce, energy, and other sectors of the economy.
The president has a number of options available to him. If Biden refuses to accept them, there is no one else to blame but himself.
