Cynical reactionary politicos have settled on a strategy of blaming Joe Biden for inflation, something REAL economic experts KNOW is impossible. To begin, examine these commonly given causes for current inflation – then FACTUALLY determine how many Biden controls: COVID, Russia’a invasion of Ukraine, supply & demand, global warming crisis, supply chains, higher gas prices, income inequality, “just-in-time” business strategy, corporate GREED, private companies controlling product distribution.
Your FACTUAL survey just revealed this as just another Republican. BIG LIE. Which is why a number of Republicans and former Republicans have written books – such as “It Was All A Lie.”
Consider the following news items”
1] corporate GREED:
– 5/9/22: “As Hostess”s CEO told shareholders..”When all prices go up, it helps.” The head of research for the bank Barclay’s echoed this. “The longer inflation lasts and the more widespread it is, the more air cover it gives companies to raise prices.” [“Corporate Profiteering Is The Culprit for Inflation”; L.Owens; N.Y. Times]
– 4/28/22: “..last year, the aggregate profit margin of non-financial corporate businesses [was] the best performance in 70 years..”they’re passing on these costs to consumers..Because they can..” [P.Davidson; “Inflation may be cover for gouging”; USA Today]
– July-August, 2022: “..the Economic Policy Institute report..The overwhelmingly largest factors..surging corporate profits..[53.9%] of the rise in prices..analysis by “The Guardian”..median profits of the top 100 publicly traded companies surged by 49 percent…CEOs bragging..inflation was giving them cover to raise prices above costs..” [P. Longman; “It’s the Monopoly, Stupid”; Washington Monthly]
— 2/9/22: “Meat and poultry packing is a highly concentrated industry [4 companies control 81%]..” R-W excuses [“libertarian-leaning “law & economic’] led to less anti-trust enforcement. Consumers pay more, cattle ranchers struggle to break even. [E. Lotterman; “Meatpacker middlemen monopoly is a real beef”; Pioneer Press]
– February, 2022: read entire “The Hightower Lowdown” issue: “Corporate profiteers pandemic strategy: GOUGE CONSUMERS AND BLAME JOE BIDEN”]
2] higher gas prices:
– 5/2/22: “President Biden is stuck between a rock and a hard place on gas prices..he isn’t really to blame for them – political superstitions notwithstanding the president does not control the price of gasoline, which is affected by myriad factors in a global marketplace..” [National Review]
– 6/22/22: “How much people pay at the pump is the result of trading on a sprawling international market. Like many other facets of the global economy, it comes down to a matter of supply & demand.” [E. Koeze, C. Krause; “Why Are Gas Prices So High?”; N.Y. Times]
– 10/3l/21: “Restrictive output policies from both OPEC Plus and U.S. shale producers have kept global production consistently below consumption since June, 2020.” {J. Kemp; “High oil prices likely to remain”; Reuters]
– 2/7/22: “..energy prices are always inherently volatile..Oil’s latest surge is powered by the Russian move on Ukraine..global demand had outstripped supply..Gas fields in Texas and elsewhere – which weren’t weatherized for cold – froze up..” {m. Hughlett; “Why costs for gas, heating & electricity are rising”; Mpls. Star Tribune]
3] world wide problem:
– 6/3/22: “Inflation could reach 11% in Britain in the fall”. [Assoc. Press]
– 5/12/22: “Germany warns of Rising Interest Rates as Inflation Hits Second Consecutive High” [M. Eddy; N.Y. Times]
– 5/12/22: “A looming Crisis For Chinese Wheat”. [K. Bradsher; N.Y. Times]
– 5/23/22: “Due to inflation, Latin Americans struggle with necessities like corn” [F. Sanchez, M. Avarese, D. Politi: Assoc Press]
– 6/30/22: “Inflation Forces Central Bankers to Ponder a Global New Normal” [E. Nelson, J. Smialek; N.Y. Times]
– 7/1/22: “Food prices rise amid concern of global shortages: “Fertilizer costs soar as farmers cope with market forces like war” [P. Cooley; USA Today}
4]. supply chains:
– 2/21/22: “Not Enough Bottles for Beer”. “The prices for many of the essential elements of beer making and selling have surged in the past two years as a global supply chain struggles to untangle itself from the late-pandemic buying frenzy..widespread reliance on ‘just-in-time’ manufacturing collapsed..”COVID just destroyed the model people built.” [B. Johnson; Mpls Star Tribune]
– 9/6/21″ “Car prices expected to stay high”: “The global parts shortage involves not just computer chips. Automakers are starting to see shortages of wiring harnesses, plastics and glass,..beyond autos, vital components for goods ranging from farm equipment to sportswear and kitchen accessories are also bottled up.” [T. Krisher; Assoc Press]
– 11/10/21: “Even as supply woes spark voter angst, the private companies responsible for the ports, trucks, terminals and trains that make up the nation’s goods pipeline operate beyond easy federal direction.” [D. Lynch; “White House takes aim at supply chain”; Washington Post]
-6/10/22: “Lessons From Henry Ford About the Supply Chain Mess”: “..he was especially distrustful of his suppliers..he warned..demands of investors for short-term gains could threaten long-term resilience .. “We are against the kind of banker who regards a business as a melon to be cut.”..Chip companies have catered heavily to their investors by limiting their capacity..” [P. S. Goodman; N.Y. Times]
– 11/15/21: “We send back 30% of what we buy online How this alters the supply chain”: About 25% of online products returned are thrown away. “The current supply chain crisis is exposing more and more inefficiencies..” [G. Allon; L.A. Times]
5]. political point scoring:
– 6/3/22: “it was never about just money. Inflation hysteria is always class war of one kind or another, waged on behalf of the asset-holders against perceived forces f “social destabilization. It’s about the wrong kind of people getting too much stuff,: said Michael O’Malley, George Mason University prof. “..the austerity of the 1980s and beyond was offered as a technocratic fix..Paul Volcker.. hiked up interest rates, allowing bankers to make a killing and stalling the economy.” [J. Rosenberg; “Inflation The Hidden Meaning of hard-money politics”; Mother Jones – July-August , 2022 issue]
– 6/3/22: “Voters blame presidents for things no president can control” [P. Krugman; “The Perverse Politics of Inflation”; N.Y. Times]
– 6/10/22: “But the reality the White House faces is a hard one: There is little politicians can do to quickly bring prices to heal..”For a president, inflation is the problem from hell – you can’t win.” [Kanno-Youngs, Smialek; “A Hesitation to Discuss Inflation”; N.Y. Times]
6]. income inequality”
– 12/2/21: “Gasoline prices are not the problem The Problem is rising inequality of income and wealth”: “In today’s dollars, gas prices averaged more than $5 per gallon in the middle of 2008..focusing on the price of gasoline obscures the larger social issue. The economic problem here is rising inequality of income and wealth, which makes everything harder to afford..What should be addressed is the everything-affordability crisis for people being left behind in the U.S. economy..” [S. Borenstein; Bloomberg Opinion]
– see also, for much greater detail:
– Wilkinson & Pickett: “The Spirit Level”. [international bestseller; thus, criticized by “the usual suspects’]
– Joe Stiglitz: “The Price of Inequality”. [a Nobel Prize winner}
– D.C. Johnston: “Divided The Perils of Our Growing Inequality”. [a Pulitzer Prize winner]
In the end – this, like ALL. other post-1980 issues – the problem for a truthful accounting of what is REALLY happening, comes down to the same thing: massive Republican/Right-Wing. LYING.
The rich and the corporations they control have funded a MASSIVE DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN. on. EVERYTHING, because the factual TRUTH. would destroy them.
The post-1980 world is still dealing with the consequences of “the Reagan revolution,” itself based on FRAUD. [“trickle-down tax cuts for the rich will help YOU; “welfare queens” stealing your money; “government is the problem”]
YOU can do your own research – real research: examine unspun pre-1980 and post-1980. IRS, GAO, CBO. data for taxes and income. It’ll reveal ordinary people [YOU] have been ROBBED by “the Reagan revolution” – less income, less government services, less security, more fear, more job loss, more disinformation.
The entire inflation-gas prices campaign is just ONE example – YOU have been CONNED ever since 1980. The Repubs/R-Ws have played on your fears, lied to you, screwed YOU over in many ways – AND MADE. YOU. LIKE. IT.
With Justice For All 