You didn’t seriously expect a guy who was in government since 1973 up to January 2017, then since January 2021, to understand how economics works, did you? That he would understand balance sheets and the need to make a profit to stay in business, when he can just demand millions from people to hire his son to do a job he doesn’t know how to do, right? That when he goes to get ice cream (which is good for dementia) the shop has to raise prices because eggs, cream, milk, chocolate, vanilla, fruit, etc. costs them more?
Biden admits prices ‘too high’ but blames sellers for 18% inflation
President Biden acknowledged Monday that prices are still “too high” and argued that companies should lower them after an 18% jump in consumer costs since he took office.
“We know that prices are still too high for too many things — that times are still too tough for too many families,” the 81-year-old said near the White House.
“We’ve made progress, but we have more work to do,” Biden added. “Let me be clear to any corporation has not brought their prices back down, even as inflation has come down, even supply chains have been rebuilt: It’s time to stop the price gouging and give the American consumer a break.”
The prices of some goods, such as food products, are expected to decline in the coming months, but periods of general deflation are rare in US history.
It would be nice if they went down, but, two main components are still high: wages and fuels, and, to some degree, general energy. But, many services are much higher due to COVID. Auto insurance is up about 25%, due to the increased cost of medical care, auto prices, repair prices, and part prices, among others. How does that come down now?
The president also attacked Republicans Monday, saying they “want to go back to the bad old days when corporations looked around the world to find the cheapest labor they could find, just to send the jobs overseas and then import the products back to the United States” — despite opposition to outsourcing being a signature issue for former President Donald Trump.
Says the guy leaving the border mostly open, which will deflate wages.
Annual inflation has cooled this year due to aggressive interest rate hikes, though it remained an elevated 3.2% in October and interest hikes caused fresh consumer pain, sending average credit card rates to 27.81% — roughly double the 14.6% APR when Biden took office — and average 30-year home mortgage rates have soared from 2.65% to between 7 and 8% this year.
Auto rates are way up, anywhere from 2 to 4 points. And people are carrying massive credit card debt. New cars are about $2000-$6000 higher than pre-COVID. Used will come down to reasonable within 6 months, but, that will leave people with massive negative equity. This isn’t Joe’s fault, it’s China’s fault. Biden’s little “Inflation Reduction Act” failed to target the things driving inflation.
This is why government runs schools and all media are friendly fellow travelers.
If people understood how the value of the dollar has been destroyed, lampposts would be festooned with those doing the devaluing and lying about it. Therefore, blame for inflation must be shifted elsewhere and repackaged as “greed.”
Of course, you don’t need to worry about inflation so much when the great bulk of your income over 50 years of “public service” has either been laundered or delivered in brown paper bags.
Good news. Former barista turned congresswoman AOC now has a net worth that puts her in the 1%. That $147K annual salary adds up fast.
Even with zero percent inflation, the prices that rose from last year’s inflation are now locked in as the new normal price. You would need DEflation to cause prices to come down.
Technically, the long term trend for prices of most things is downward and low rates of inflation is what keeps the price of a happy meal constant. Lower prices come from efficiencies in manufacturing and delivery and economies of scale. But this long term trend in process is totally overshadowed by normal inflation of 2-3%. Current inflation rates dwarf any benefits consumers get from improvements in the supply chain.
There are a lot of businesses going out of business lately. News media focuses on the high crime rates in cities driving them out but even rural McDonald’s and Burger Kings are going under. They are crushed between inflationary costs of materials and Government-imposed labor costs and the willingness of consumers to buy their products at a much higher price. Add to that an inexplicable labor shortage. Not enough people are willing to work for the even inflated wages to fully staff those facilities. Not even our new unskilled immigrants. If management raises prices to cover even higher wages for staff, they lose even more customers. It is a death spiral they cannot escape. A lot of small franchise investors are going to lose a generation of family wealth due to Biden’s policies.
Commenter: prices that rose from last year’s inflation are now locked in as the new normal price
There is some truth to that, especially in non-competitive markets. The objective of every business is monopoly. In a free-market, capitalist society, competition should and can drive prices down.
The world is recovering from a post-pandemic global recession coincident with a microchip shortage and supply chain disruptions.
The commenter is not implying that business-persons and corporations are taking advantage of US consumers, are they??
For example, egg prices peaked at $4.82/dozen and now you can buy a dozen for about a buck, but replacing egg production has a short lag time. Gasoline goes up and down (although we’ll never see the $0.0199 I saw as a high schooler) based on the mood of OPEC+.
Beef is still expensive but:
In addition, feed prices are also up (see above). Beef production has an extended lag time.
Pork is down 38% from the peak. Lumber is down 50% from its 2021 peak. Soybeans down 30%. Steel down 50%.
New auto inflation was 11% in 2022 but only 3% in 2023. The key is competition. Why buy an Accord when you can get a comparatively equipped Camry or Kia for $1000 less? (Especially since in 1986 the Honda salesperson said they could add $2000 ADP, ie, addtional dealer profit, while a Toyota dealer was selling at sticker price to build brand loyalty. We’ve bought 4 more Toyotas since!) EV prices have been decreasing since 2018.
another example of how someone who spends his entire adult life not having to make a profit to succeed telling everyone else how economies work. everything government put it’s hands on turns to shit.