In an interview with Lester Holt of NBC last week, President Biden continued to blame current inflation on the supply chain. As quoted by Steven Rattner in the New York Times, President Trump insisted, “The reason for the inflation is the supply chains were cut off.” The President has abandoned his earlier assertion that West Coast port hours were the problem.
Rattner gets right to the point, saying “. . . supply issues are by no means the root cause of our inflation. Blaming inflation on supply lines is like complaining about your sweater keeping you too warm after you’ve added several logs to the fireplace. The bulk of our supply problems are the product of an overstimulated economy, not the cause of it.”
The U.S. economy is red hot. Three stimulus checks have gone out. Unemployment remains at historically low levels. Consumers are limited in their ability to travel, are restricted in their ability to dine out, and can only eat so much food at home. Spending patterns have shifted.
Imports are up. People have more money to spend, and they are doing it, resulting in an import boom. Supply Chains aren’t the root cause of our problem. The federal government is.
The Feds need to stop passing the buck and quit blaming us.
