A top Biden official is admitting that her calculations about inflation were wrong and the impact on the economy was worse than she expected.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Janet Yellen, Biden’s Treasury Secretary, has said that her projections were wrong as the Biden admin scrambles to change American’s perceptions about the economy before the 2022 midterm elections.
During an interview with CNN Yellen stated, “I think I was wrong then about the path that inflation would take.”
She continued, “There have been unanticipated and large shocks to the economy that have boosted energy and food prices and supply bottlenecks that have affected our economy badly that I didn’t, at the time, fully understand.”
President Joe Biden, joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, Chief Medical Adviser on COVID-19 Dr Anthony Fauci, Coordinator of the COVID-19 Response and Councilor to the President Jeff Zients and virtual guests, signs an executive order on Establishing the COVID-19 Pandemic Testing Board and Ensuring a Sustainable Public Health Workforce for COVID-19 and Other Biological Threats Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in the State Dining Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz) This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.
Yellen previously claimed that there was only a “small risk” of inflation and that it was “manageable.”
The Journal reported further:
In May 2021, she similarly told The Wall Street Journal that she didn’t anticipate an inflationary problem. More recently, administration officials have backed off characterizing the increase as temporary.
Inflation as measured by the consumer-price index, had jumped to an 8.5% annual rate in March 2022, according to the Labor Department. That was the largest gain in four decades, and well up from a just above 2% rate before the pandemic began in early 2020. Consumer inflation eased slightly in April to an 8.3% rate.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any relief in sight. Economists expect the elevated inflation levels to continue throughout this year and into 2023.
Polling shows Americans are dissatisfied with the economy, and Biden has made it his issue number one.
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