Letters to the Editor
Eighteen months into Biden’s administration and things are a little messy in the economics department, i.e., inflation is running rampant. I won’t say that Biden is totally responsible for how we got here, but he has been major contributor. Let’s use a baseball analogy.
Strike 1: On day one of his administration, President Biden issued, “Executive
Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.” Not only did the order stop construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and the cessation of drilling on federal lands, but directed all regulatory agencies, “to review all existing regulations ... adopted between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021 [the Trump administration], that are or may be inconsistent with, or present obstacles to, the policy set forth in section 1 of this order.” To clarify, “section 1” spelled out the justifications to kill the US fossil fuel industry. Evidently, without regard to any related price increases from future supply shortfalls when satisfying ongoing demands.
Strike 2: The $2 trillion American Rescue Plan passed even though the monies from 2 previous pandemic related bills had not been fully spent. The plan included direct payments to individuals, but they are now effectively paying it back via inflation. The bill has become sharply divisive in economic circles, with some saying it contributed up to half of today's 8.6% inflation.
Strike 3: In one of his scarce incoherent news conferences, Biden blamed, “Russia, Russia, Russia” and its invasion of Ukraine for inflation, but let’s take it from he Russian perspective. Vladimir Putin must’ve been elated when he saw a Democratic administration return to power. Not only was it back to the comfortable Obama days of unchallenged Russian adventurism, but the new guy diminishing his own energy market, complemented with his commander-in-chief abilities, or lack thereof, displayed by his disastrous exit from Afghanistan, set the stage for Vlad’s Ukraine invasion. So, the current war is a contributor to inflation, but it might be asked what encouraged the current war.
So there you have it, 3 strikes and you’re outta here – unfortunately, this guy still has 2 ½ years left at bat.
Enough said.
Anthony C. Powers