Quote:
Originally Posted by tommy156
How exactly do Biden and the Democrats bear responsibility for *worldwide* inflation?? You're not one of those guys who thinks the POTUS controls gas prices, are you?
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Ok, I hereby withdraw my earlier question to you asking where did you study economics. It's obvious you didn't.
The US dollar is the world's primary reserve and settlement currency. Therefore, when our federal government spends money like a drunken sailor and pays for everything by printing dollars like we're all going to hell, it sparks inflation on a global scale. So saying inflation is a "worldwide" phenomenon does NOT absolve Biden and the recklessly spendthrift and irresponsible Democrats from (partial) responsibility for it.
If you knew anything about economics, you would understand that the levels of inflation, unemployment, GDP growth et alia are driven by multiple factors. I don't claim Biden and his spendthrift Democrats are to blame for ALL of the huge spike in inflation (from 1.2% in Dec. 2020 to a peak of 9.1% in June 2022, measured by the 12-month CPI). That would be almost as dumb as your claiming Biden and his spendthrift Democrats bear NONE of the blame.
Most intelligent economists who track and measure these things (including prominent Obama Democrats like Larry Summers and Jason Furman) agree that the
$1.9 trillion "American Rescue Plan" crafted & passed entirely by Democrats in early 2021 was a major factor in goosing the rate of inflation in this country. Estimates are that
this excessive & unneeded fiscal stimulus alone added 3 full percentage points to the annual rate.
And no, I never suggested the President CONTROLS the price of oil, gas or energy. But only a fucking idiot would argue his actions (and those of the majority party) do not strongly INFLUENCE energy prices. Otherwise why did Biden keep releasing all those barrels from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve if he didn't think it would make any damn difference in prices at the pump? Our domestic oil production has still not recovered to its pre-pandemic peak of 13 million barrels per day, mainly because Biden's war on fossil fuels is deterring production just about everywhere in the country except the Permian Basin in Texas.
So yes, Biden's policies are keeping our energy supplies lower - and prices higher - than they would be if policy was being set by an administration that wasn't so openly hostile to the fossil fuel industry. And since the cost of energy seeps into the prices of nearly all other goods we buy, this is just
one more reason Biden and his Democrats share a big chunk of the blame for runaway inflation that - if left unchecked - will ultimately undermine the US economy.