<p>On Thursday, President Joe Biden blamed decades-high inflation plaguing America on Russian President Vladimir Putin&#8217;s recent invasion of Ukraine. Immediately, two notable economists from both ends of the political spectrum explained why Biden is dead-wrong in that assertion.</p>
<p>John Tamny, director of the center for economic freedom at FreedomWorks, told The Daily Wire that the president is confusing &#8220;rising prices&#8221; with “inflation&#8221; and that the commander-in-chief has many avenues he can use to tackle both. Even former President Barack Obama&#8217;s car czar, Steven Rattner, claimed that Biden needed to &#8220;own&#8221; the inflation and quit blaming Putin.</p>
<p>Fox News <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/consumer-price-index-inflation-february-2022">reported</a> on Thursday, &#8220;<a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/live-news/stocks-today-3-10-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Inflation</a> hit a fresh 40-year high in February, largely driven by higher gas prices.&#8221; Fox News added that it was the highest inflation in 40 years:</p>
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<blockquote><p><em>The consumer price index climbed 7.9% on an annual basis, according to data released on Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Month over month, inflation rose 0.8%.</em></p>
<p><em>The year-over-year reading is in line with estimates and compares with an annual 7.5% jump in January, marking the fastest increase since February 1982, when inflation hit 7.6%.</em></p></blockquote>
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<p>In response to the economic news, Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/10/statement-by-president-biden-on-consumer-price-index-in-february/">issued a statement</a> claiming that the inflation was due to sanctions and other problems caused by Putin&#8217;s war overseas. The president did, however, try to claim credit for the &#8220;good&#8221; economic news by saying that the <span class="s1">&#8220;economic data tells the tale of two recoveries.&#8221;</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">&#8220;Our jobs recovery remains strong. New unemployment claims remain low, as jobs are created at a record level. The rate of people on unemployment insurance is the lowest since 1970 – more than 50 years,&#8221; he added. &#8220;And, private sector job growth is strong, boosted by the steps we took in the American Rescue Plan a year ago this week.&#8221; </span></p>
<p>In January, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-dollar-drops-as-inflation-rises-heres-what-that-means-for-your-wallet">reported</a> why those numbers are worse than they seem due to things costing more and the dollar stretching less:</p>
<blockquote><p><em>On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in December consumer prices <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-inflation-rises-7-in-december-over-previous-year-fastest-rise-in-almost-40-years">rose</a> by 7% over the previous year — the highest rate in roughly 40 years. Likewise, “real average hourly earnings” — which consider the effect of inflation — <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/in-2021-inflation-gave-the-typical-american-a-2-4-pay-cut">decreased</a> by 2.4% from December 2020 to December 2021, starkly cutting the purchasing power of American consumers.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>Nonetheless, Biden found a new culprit for inflation: Putin.</p>
<p>&#8220;At the same time, today’s inflation report is a reminder that Americans’ budgets are being stretched by price increases and families are starting to feel the impacts of Putin’s price hike,&#8221; Biden said in a statement. &#8220;A large contributor to inflation this month was an increase in gas and energy prices as markets reacted to Putin’s aggressive actions.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;As I have said from the start, there will be costs at home as we impose crippling sanctions in response to Putin’s unprovoked war, but Americans can know this: the costs we are imposing on Putin and his cronies are far more devastating than the costs we are facing,&#8221; Biden attempted to reassure Americans.</p>
<p>A keen observer would note that inflation had been going up since <em>before </em>sanctions were put in place. In response, Rattner tweeted, &#8220;Well, no. These are Feb #&#8217;s and only include small Russia effect. This is Biden&#8217;s inflation and he needs to own it.&#8221;</p>
<p>As The Washington Examiner <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/obama-car-czar-blames-biden-not-putin-for-inflation-and-skyrocketing-gas-prices">reported</a>, Rattner was &#8220;the lead adviser on former President Barack Obama&#8217;s Task Force on the Auto Industry.”</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Well, no. These are Feb #&#39;s and only include small Russia effect. This is Biden&#39;s inflation and he needs to own it. <a href="https://t.co/WsJjn6picV">https://t.co/WsJjn6picV</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Steven Rattner (@SteveRattner) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveRattner/status/1501950599339802633?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p>In addition to that, Tamny said that Biden was fundamentally misunderstanding the problem.</p>
<p>&#8220;There is an ocean of difference between rising prices and inflation. Inflation is a decline in the value of the dollar. If Biden wants to arrest inflation, the answer is simple: communicate through Treasury the importance of a strong dollar.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;As for high prices born of global strife, including Ukraine, Biden would be wise to cease using the latter as an excuse to meddle in the markets,&#8221; Tamny advised. &#8220;If so, he’ll quickly realize that high prices always and everywhere precede lower prices due to the unchangeable law of supply and demand.&#8221;</p>
<p><em>The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.</em></p>

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Biden Now Blames Putin For Record-Setting Inflation; Obama’s Car Czar, Others Say, ‘Not So Fast’