White House denies being 'wrong' about inflation

[mystery-ak]

White House denies being 'wrong' about inflation
by W. James Antle III, Politics Editor |
 | June 01, 2022 06:26 PM

The White House was on the defensive over inflation during Wednesday’s briefing but refused to concede any errors in handling the spike in consumer prices that threatens Democratic congressional majorities this year.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended President Joe Biden’s overall economic stewardship in response to a question about whether the administration had gotten inflation wrong.

“No easy questions today, huh?” the top White House spokeswoman replied with a laugh before acknowledging that “there are things that happened ... that [were] not predicted at the time."

The inflation questions come as Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen admitted to being “wrong … about the path that inflation would take.”

"When are you guys going to admit that you were wrong about inflation?" asked Peter Doocy of Fox News, adding that the “Treasury secretary says that she was wrong.”

Jean-Pierre countered that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the pandemic were the primary drivers of inflation, claiming that nothing in Yellen’s comments contradict that line.

“There have been a huge series of shocks to the economy that we didn't anticipate — further variants of COVID that have impacted our economy, Russia's war on Ukraine — which have boosted energy and food prices globally. The lockdowns that have occurred in China [were another shock],” Yellen told Wolf Blitzer on CNN’s Situation Room. "I think I was wrong then about the path that inflation would take.”

But the White House has moved past talking about inflation as “transitory” and launched a new messaging strategy as the issue rockets to the top of voters’ concerns in public polls.

“The most important thing we can do now to transition from rapid recovery to stable, steady growth is to bring inflation down,” Biden wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. “Americans are anxious. I know that feeling.”

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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/white-house-denies-being-wrong-about-inflation

[Kamaji]

Maybe they're refusing to admit they were wrong because inflation was part of their plan all along?

[The_Reader_David]

Maybe they're refusing to admit they were wrong because inflation was part of their plan all along?

Ah, you're tilting toward the charlatan explanation of Democrat economic malfeasance.  I'm always torn between thinking they are charlatans who only pretend to not understand economics and thinking they really are completely clueless as to how economics works.

[catfish1957]

Maybe they're refusing to admit they were wrong because inflation was part of their plan all along?

Exactly.

Zero economist would have predicted otherwise, when you throw hydrocarbon markets into a frenzy day 1 in an upward spiral, forcing a shortage. Supply/demand is an economic  concept even middle schoolers understand.

This was planned.

[Smokin Joe]

I think they hire a lot of brown eyed people, and those who aren't are a quart low.

[Smokin Joe]

Exactly.

Zero economist would have predicted otherwise, when you throw hydrocarbon markets into a frenzy day 1 in an upward spiral, forcing a shortage. Supply/demand is an economic  concept even middle schoolers understand.

This was planned.

I agree. All these results are the predictable outcome of these actions. You don't need a degree in Economics, just a smidgen of common sense.

[Kamaji]

Ah, you're tilting toward the charlatan explanation of Democrat economic malfeasance.  I'm always torn between thinking they are charlatans who only pretend to not understand economics and thinking they really are completely clueless as to how economics works.

I feel the tension.