Welcome to Bidenomics, where the president&#8217;s plans to fix the student debt crisis could drive up both <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/inflation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inflation</a> and the overall cost of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/colleges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">college,</a> while doing nothing to fix the root of the problem, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/national-debt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cost</a> taxpayers as much as $1 trillion.
According to the Wharton School, the plan is going to cost a bit more than the marketed $300 billion price tag. Biden&#8217;s “debt cancellation alone will cost up to $519 billion, with about 75% of the benefit accruing to households making $88,000 or less,” Wharton <a href="https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2022/8/26/biden-student-loan-forgiveness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> in a new study.
“Loan forbearance will cost another $16 billion” and “the new income-driven repayment (IDR) program would cost another $70 billion, increasing the total plan cost to $605 billion” at a minimum based on Wharton&#8217;s model.
“Depending on future IDR program details to be released and potential behavioral (i.e., &#8216;non-static&#8217;) changes, total plan costs could exceed $1 trillion,” the school warned.
For his part, Biden doesn&#8217;t believe that massive government spending contributes to inflation. In the spring, the president <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/im-sick-of-this-stuff-biden-complains-that-the-american-people-believe-increased-government-spending-causes-inflation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">barked</a> that he was “sick” of criticism against his administration&#8217;s spending plans.
“We have to talk about it because the American people think the reason for inflation is government spending more money. It’s simply not true,” he claimed. Even the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-biden-covid-health-business-772e1eb45fb5981f3a2b6f2a4b0d201f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dinged</a> Biden for that false statement, explaining to the president that high spending does indeed contribute to rising prices.
Yet even before Wharton&#8217;s astronomical pricetag was released, folks like former President Barack Obama&#8217;s top economic advisor Larry Summers were blasting Biden&#8217;s bailout. Summers argued this week that the plan will add to inflation woes.
“Every dollar spent on student loan relief is a dollar that could have gone to support those who don’t get the opportunity to go to college,” Summers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/raises-demand-and-increases-inflation-obamas-top-economist-shreds-biden-plan-for-student-loan-cancellation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explained</a>.
“Student loan debt relief is spending that raises demand and increases inflation. It consumes resources that could be better used helping those who did not, for whatever reason, have the chance to attend college,” he added. “It will also tend to be inflationary by raising tuitions.”
Richard Vedder, a senior fellow at the Independent Institute and an economics professor, also recently <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/student-loan-handout-illegal-inflationary-immoral-inequitable">explained</a> for Fox News that the debt cancellation could lead to students taking out more student loans while colleges hike up prices even more.
“Forgiving student loans increases incentives for colleges to raise tuition and fees more aggressively,” Vedder argued. “Students will be emboldened to borrow more, thinking &#8216;I will not ever have to pay the loans back.&#8217;”
Vedder noted that the empirical data show that “most new federal student loan money ends up being absorbed by higher tuition fees; universities and their staffs benefit much more than students.”
Furthermore, Biden&#8217;s debt plan does nothing to stop the actual problem — government-backed loans giving cover for colleges to raise prices. The students taking out loans today will find themselves in a similar situation 10 years down the road, albeit with different payback options.
In short, the preliminary data suggests Biden&#8217;s debt amnesty will do zilch to fix the crisis or help the economy. In the words of attorney Mark Meuser, “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/like-a-band-aid-on-gangrene-why-forgiving-student-loans-is-unconstitutional">It&#8217;s like putting a bandaid on gangrene</a>.” That&#8217;s Bidenomics in action, folks.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Joe Biden

Bidenomics: Student Debt Amnesty Could Cost $1 Trillion

Bidenomics: Student Loan Amnesty Could Cost $1 Trillion

Biden

College

Debt Forgiveness

Economics

Top economists who worked for former President Barack Obama (D) slammed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President Joe Biden</a> (D) for his plan to bail out a large number of Americans from having to pay back a substantial portion of their student loans or Pell Grants.
Biden announced his plan Wednesday to make U.S. taxpayers pay off thousands of dollars in student loans and Pell Grant recipients for those making less than $125,000 a year.
The nixing of $10,000 of debt per borrower would cost $298 billion in 2022 and a total of $329 billion by 2031 if the policy is renewed each year, according to a nonpartisan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-student-loan-cancellation-would-cost-330-billion-and-largely-help-the-wealthy">analysis</a> from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Less than 32% of the funding would benefit Americans in the two lowest income quintiles, while 42% would benefit those earning more than $82,400 per year.
Jason Furman, President Barack Obama&#8217;s chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, responded to the plan by writing on social media, “Pouring roughly half trillion dollars of gasoline on the inflationary fire that is already burning is reckless.”
“Doing it while going well beyond one campaign promise ($10K of student loan relief) and breaking another (all proposals paid for) is even worse,” he continued. “There are a number of other highly problematic impacts including encouraging higher tuition in the future, encouraging more borrowing, creating expectations of future debt forgiveness, and more.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BTW, those examples also contradict the baseline some have concocted to claim that this won&#39;t raise inflation. The claim it won&#39;t raise inflation is based on the construction worker going from permanently paying $0 interest to paying $31 a month at an annual cost of $372.
&mdash; Jason Furman (@jasonfurman) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasonfurman/status/1562503991862657026?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Most importantly, everyone else will pay for this either in the form of higher inflation or in higher taxes or lower benefits in the future,” he later added. “Finally, it&#8217;s not obvious to me that this is reasonable for a President to do unilaterally. A number of lawyers (and political leaders) have argued inconsistent with the law. Even if technically legal I don&#8217;t like this amount of unilateral Presidential power.”
Larry Summers, Secretary of the Treasury for President Clinton and Director of NEC for President Obama, slammed the idea of canceling student loan debt.
“Student loan debt relief is spending that raises demand and increases inflation,” he wrote. “It consumes resources that could be better used helping those who did not, for whatever reason, have the chance to attend college. It will also tend to be inflationary by raising tuitions.”
“The worst idea would be a continuation of the current moratorium that benefits among others highly paid surgeons, lawyers and investment bankers,” Summers continued.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The worst idea would be a continuation of the current moratorium that benefits among others highly paid surgeons, lawyers and investment bankers.
&mdash; Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) <a href="https://twitter.com/LHSummers/status/1561701545615441921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.
Related: <a style="font-style: italic;" href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-mocks-reporter-who-asks-if-its-unfair-to-cancel-student-loan-debt">Biden Mocks Reporter Who Asks If It’s ‘Unfair’ To Cancel Student Loan Debt</a>

US-politics-BIDEN-education-debt

Top Democrat Economists Blast Biden’s Student Loan Bailout: Pours ‘Gasoline On The Inflationary Fire’

Top Democrat Economists Blast Biden’s Student Loan Bailout

Biden Administration

Student Loan Cancellation

Student Loans

Less than two years after President Joe Biden entered the White House, the United States has been crippled by record-high inflation and an energy crisis that has placed the economy in a functional recession. When he entered office, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/273418/unadjusted-monthly-inflation-rate-in-the-us/">inflation</a> was 1.4% — a metric that has since sextupled to 8.5%.
The situation will sound awfully familiar to those who were alive four decades ago. President Jimmy Carter ascended to the White House when <a href="https://www.inflation.eu/en/inflation-rates/united-states/historic-inflation/cpi-inflation-united-states-1977.aspx">inflation</a> was 5.2%. When he left four years later, <a href="https://cpiinflationcalculator.com/1981-cpi-inflation-united-states/">inflation</a> reached 11.8% after <a href="https://inflationdata.com/articles/inflation-cpi-consumer-price-index-1980-1989/">approaching</a> as much as 14.8% in early 1980. 
Of course, the reason Carter ultimately left the Oval Office was the sweeping electoral victory of President Ronald Reagan. As the Great Communicator articulated during his acceptance <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-accepting-the-presidential-nomination-the-republican-national-convention-detroit">speech</a> at the 1980 Republican National Convention, Carter had cooked up “a new and altogether indigestible economic stew” — the ingredients being “one part inflation, one part high unemployment, one part recession, one part runaway taxes, one part deficit spending and seasoned by an energy crisis.”
Indeed, Carter responded to the 1979 energy crisis by slashing dependence on oil and instead <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/carter-crisis/">focusing</a> on renewable sources — even pushing the goal of 20% nationwide solar power by the year 2000. Today, Biden is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pete-buttigieg-tells-americans-how-they-can-channel-their-pain-at-the-pump">addressing</a> fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine by pushing the goal of 50% electric vehicle adoption by 2030 — months after he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/peter-doocy-asks-for-a-straight-answer-on-keystone-gets-the-runaround-from-jen-psaki">nixed</a> expansions to the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Incompetence is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a characteristic that Carter and Biden share. Yet both administrations somehow blamed the American people for their own failures — a phenomenon that Reagan noticed.
“Ours are not problems of abstract economic theory,” he explained. “Those are problems of flesh and blood; problems that cause pain and destroy the moral fiber of real people who should not suffer the further indignity of being told by the government that it is all somehow their fault. We do not have inflation because — as Mr. Carter says — we have lived too well.”
Such examples from the Biden administration are manifold. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/buttigieg-supply-chain-clog-happening-in-part-because-biden-has-successfully-guided-this-economy">pinned</a> supply chain bottlenecks on surging consumer demand, and former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jen-psaki-on-supply-chain-shortages-impacting-u-s-the-tragedy-of-the-treadmill-thats-delayed">mocked</a> Americans facing these issues by quipping about the “tragedy of the treadmill that’s delayed.”
Both administrations, however, had the audacity to increase spending even as inflation gripped the economy. Biden has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-signs-740-billion-inflation-reduction-act">signed</a> into law a not-so-aptly-named bill called the <a href="https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/inflation_reduction_act_one_page_summary.pdf">Inflation Reduction Act</a>, which posits that spending $740 billion and doubling the size of the IRS will help Americans more comfortably shoulder the burden of higher prices.
“The head of a government which has utterly refused to live within its means … dares to point the finger of blame at business and labor, both of which have been engaged in a losing struggle just trying to stay even,” Reagan said. “High taxes, we are told, are somehow good for us, as if, when government spends our money it isn&#8217;t inflationary, but when we spend it, it is.”
During his <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-accepting-the-presidential-nomination-the-republican-national-convention-dallas">speech</a> at the 1984 Republican National Convention, Reagan looked back on the first four years of his administration and warned the American people that if Democrats were permitted to regain power, they would once again implement a foolish economic agenda. Though the America of four decades ago had yet to witness so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion emerge as a governance philosophy, Reagan observed that blowout spending was conducted “in the name of compassion” as a “deliberate part of their official economic policy, needed, they said, to maintain prosperity.”
Likewise, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen entered her current post on a <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0003">vow</a> to battle the “crisis of systemic racism” in the economy. “Economics isn’t just something you find in a textbook,” she told her staff at the dawn of the Biden administration. “Nor is it simply a collection of theories. Indeed, the reason I went from academia to government is because I believe economic policy can be a potent tool to improve society.”
She also promised that any potential inflation “spurt” from Biden’s policies would <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/despite-skyrocketing-inflation-janet-yellen-will-keep-pushing-for-biden-spending-agenda">fade</a> away by 2022. When that promise failed to materialize, she had nothing better to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/janet-yellen-admits-she-was-wrong-about-inflation-being-small-risk">offer</a> than a meek “I was wrong.”
In the 2020s, Americans carry smartphones and enjoy a somewhat less-elevated threat of nuclear war — yet the economically-illiterate philosophies of the 1970s are as pervasive as ever. There remains a holier-than-thou ruling class that spends your money under the facade of kindness and inclusivity — then sticks you, your children, and your grandchildren with the bill.

Ronald Reagan’s ‘Carter-flation’ Warning_2

Ronald Reagan’s Carterflation Warnings Ring True Under Bidenflation

Inflation

Jimmy Carter

Readers Pass

Ronald Reagan

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/inflation">Bidenflation</a> is hitting <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/united-states">Americans</a> across the board, according to a new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/poll">study</a>.
On Monday, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/01/as-inflation-surges-more-americans-are-living-paycheck-to-paycheck.html">reported</a> that recent data from LendingClub indicates that in June 2022, 61% of all Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck — including 36% of those earning more than $200,000. That figure is up from 55% from the year before for all Americans.
&#8220;What a difference a year makes. Last summer we were all worried about how quickly the economy would recover,&#8221; Anuj Nayar, LendingClub&#8217;s Financial Health Officer, <a href="https://ir.lendingclub.com/news/news-details/2022/The-Number-of-Consumers-Living-Paycheck-to-Paycheck-Has-Increased-Year-Over-Year-Across-All-Income-Levels/default.aspx">said</a> in a press release issued Monday. &#8220;Now, as inflation continues its upwards swing, consumers are finding it more difficult to manage spending and are eating into their savings as financial pressures mount.&#8221;
Nayar predicted that Americans would soon have difficulties handling unexpected costs.
&#8220;That said, consumers are not yet slowing down their spending habits, despite the rise in the cost of living,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Not only is it going to be difficult for them to handle future emergency expenses, but even foreseen payments like education, student loans, or housing expenses may be harder to balance for the everyday American consumer.&#8221;
LendingClub&#8217;s press release also <a href="https://ir.lendingclub.com/news/news-details/2022/The-Number-of-Consumers-Living-Paycheck-to-Paycheck-Has-Increased-Year-Over-Year-Across-All-Income-Levels/default.aspx">noted</a>, &#8220;An estimated 33.5 million — or 13% — of U.S. consumers spent more than they earned in the past six months.&#8221;
As <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/01/as-inflation-surges-more-americans-are-living-paycheck-to-paycheck.html">pointed out</a> by CNBC, while paychecks might have risen 5.1%, skyrocketing inflation has outpaced average salary increases. In June, American inflation rose 9.1%, negating most economic gains.
To help address the problem, Senate Democrats recently unveiled the “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joe-manchin-revives-bidens-agenda-agrees-to-democrat-package-of-tax-increases-and-climate-spending">Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.</a>&#8221; However, a Penn Wharton study <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrat-inflation-reduction-act-could-slightly-increase-inflation-over-next-two-years-study-finds">released</a> Friday shows that the bill could lead to a slight increase in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/inflation">inflation</a> over the next two years, doing the exact opposite of what its name suggests.
Penn Wharton <a href="https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2022/7/29/inflation-reduction-act-preliminary-estimates">analyzed</a> the massive spending package that gained the support of moderate Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) last week, surprising many political observers.
“The Act would very slightly increase inflation until 2024 and decrease inflation thereafter. These point estimates are statistically indistinguishable from zero, thereby indicating low confidence that the legislation will have any impact on inflation,” the Penn Wharton Budget Model found.
According to the study, inflation could rise by 0.05% over the next two years before a marginal drop of 0.25% “by the late 2020s,” rendering the spending package ineffective at accomplishing its purpose.
The Penn Wharton findings were released the same day that new data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-bad-inflation-news-as-u-s-enters-a-recession-biden-pushes-spending">showed</a> that the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, a key measure of inflation, increased 6.8% in June. That’s the highest yearly increase since January 1982, marking troubling news for Americans as the economy entered a recession on Thursday.
To make matters worse for most Americans, Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-claims-legislative-deal-on-his-agenda-wont-raise-taxes-on-people-making-less-than-400k-report-says-otherwise">released data</a> Saturday from the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) that indicated the Inflation Reduction Act would increase taxes in the calendar year 2023 for everyone except those making between $10,000 and $30,000 per year.
Zach Jewell and Ryan Saavedra contributed to this article. 
A previous version of this article misstated the percentage of Americans living paycheck to paycheck was up 55%. It has been corrected to note that the figure is up from 55%.

Cropped Hand Of Woman Signing On Check Over Table

61% Of Americans Living Paycheck-To-Paycheck

Money

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> administrator has placed a pause on edits to Wikipedia&#8217;s &#8220;Recession&#8221; page by unregistered users until early August to stop &#8220;vandalism&#8221; and &#8220;malicious&#8221; content after the page was edited 41 times in the past seven days with repeated attempts to alter the historical definition of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/recession">recession</a>.
On Thursday, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-in-a-recession-after-second-straight-quarter-of-negative-growth">estimated</a> that the U.S. economy shrank for the second straight quarter at a 0.9 annualized rate. In recent weeks, the Biden administration had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-economy-identifies-as-growing">argued</a> that there is no agreed-upon definition of a recession, despite economists consistently saying a recession can be signaled by two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. The plethora of Wikipedia revisions come as the Biden administration attempts to go around the commonly held definition of the term.
On Wednesday, writer Ann Bauer flagged the edits, tweeting, &#8220;Here is the revision history from roughly the past 24 hours on Wikipedia&#8217;s RECESSION page,&#8221; while showing the extensive list.
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Here is the revision history from roughly the past 24 hours on Wikipedia&#39;s RECESSION page: <a href="https://t.co/LxU5RiEEZ9">pic.twitter.com/LxU5RiEEZ9</a>
&mdash; Ann Bauer (@annbauerwriter) <a href="https://twitter.com/annbauerwriter/status/1552417150731751427?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
For example, an editor by the name &#8220;Soibangla&#8221; — the third most prominent member of the Recession page by authorship — repeatedly <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Recession&amp;diff=prev&amp;oldid=1100801950">deleted</a> additions by other editors who used the textbook definition of a recession as being two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.
The editor, who contributed to more than a thousand other Wikipedia articles, replaced the historically-applied indicator with various ambiguous explanations. For example, one of Soibangla&#8217;s edits claimed, “There is no global consensus on” what a recession is.
Other editors, however, tried changing or reverting the definitions, only to be foiled by other editors who removed their changes.
There have been so many edits to the page in such a short time that a Wikipedia administrator named “Anarchyte” had to pause all additions due to “Persistent addition of unsourced or poorly sourced content,” requiring all edits to be confirmed by trusted users.
Wikipedia editors are not paid by the company and can be banned if they repeatedly violate its rules. 
As of publication, many of the changes made by users have been deleted, and the historical definition is live on the site, albeit with added context. 
The administrator Anarchyte also tagged the post with “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Twinkle">Twinkle</a>,” which is used to &#8220;stop vandalism, or the malicious addition and/or deletion of content on a page.&#8221; This verification process will be in place for weeks, if not months. 
On the national stage, White House economic advisor Brian Deese has claimed that a recession is not universally defined as two straight quarters of negative growth.
“It’s not the definition that economists have traditionally relied on,” Deese recently said regarding the aforementioned definition.
In 2008, Deese <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/07/27/white-house-takes-heat-after-biden-adviser-accused-of-redefining-recession/">told</a> the media, “Economists have a technical definition of recession, which is two consecutive quarters of negative growth.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Brian Deese, yesterday: &quot;Two negative quarters of GDP growth is not the technical definition of recession.”
Deese, 2008: “Economists have a technical definition of recession, which is two consecutive quarters of negative growth.” <a href="https://t.co/MzVk7drq3v">pic.twitter.com/MzVk7drq3v</a>
&mdash; RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1552355645055270912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also refused to acknowledge that the U.S. was heading toward a recession and claimed that the economy was in a “transition” with growth “slowing.”
“This is not an economy that’s in recession,” she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yellen-were-not-in-a-recession-were-in-a-transition-in-which-growth-is-slowing">told</a> NBC News&#8217; Chuck Todd. “But we’re in a period of transition in which growth is slowing and that’s necessary and appropriate and we need to be growing at a steady and sustainable pace. So there is a slowdown and businesses can see that and that’s appropriate, given that people now have jobs and we have a strong labor market.”

Wikipedia

Wikipedia’s ‘Recession’ Page Shows 41 Edits In One Week, Attempts At Changing Definition

Wikipedia's 'Recession' Page Shows 41 Edits In One Week, Attempts At Changing Definition

English

language

Recession

In the midst of economic uncertainty, one thing remains true — <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/costco">Costco</a> will not be raising the price of its $1.50 hot dog and soda combination anytime soon.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wall-street-journal">The Wall Street Journal</a> reported on Thursday that Richard Galanti, chief financial officer at Costco, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-1-50-costco-hot-dog-combo-that-defies-inflation-11657753870">assured</a> customers that they can still rely on seeing the incredible deal that they&#8217;ve come to love since 1985 inside its stores across <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/united-states">America</a>.
&#8220;That $1.50 price point has been sacrosanct from the very beginning,&#8221; Gallanti told the paper.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics&#8217; Consumer Price Index report <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-the-products-making-your-wallet-lighter-as-inflation-hits-new-highs">announced</a> on Wednesday that inflation rose 9.1% between June 2021 and June 2022, marking a 40-year high.
Costco has raised prices on other food court items, but the CFO admitted that the company&#8217;s profits in that part of the store are practically nonexistent.
&#8220;Needless to say we aren’t making a lot or any money,&#8221; Galanti said about Costco&#8217;s food courts. “At the end of the day, the whole value of our warehouse club includes a great value on that hot dog and soda.&#8221;
The Journal also cited the classic tale about the time that Costco&#8217;s co-founder, Jim Sinegal, comedically threatened to murder Costco CEO W. Craig Jelinek who suggested raising the price in order to recoup revenue.
Sinegal allegedly told the executive, &#8220;If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.&#8221;
Had the price of the combo kept up with inflation, customers would be currently paying $4.13, per the Journal.
Costco has been so intent on keeping the price-point low that it has opened two factories that produce nothing but hot dogs to help keep costs down.
&#8220;What we figured out we could do is build our own hot dog-manufacturing plant (in Los Angeles) and make our own Kirkland Signature hot dogs,&#8221; Jelinek <a href="https://www.425business.com/news/costco-ceo-craig-jelinek-on-shareholders-costco-com-and-hot-dogs/article_5ff4b632-1f75-5e98-b9ff-6e02d676668b.html">said</a> after the plant opened in 2011. &#8220;Now we are doing so much hot dog business that we&#8217;ve opened up another plant in Chicago.&#8221;
&#8220;By having the discipline to say, &#8216;You are not going to be able to raise your price. You have to figure it out,&#8217; we took it over and started manufacturing our hot dogs,&#8221; he said at the time. &#8220;We keep it at $1.50 and make enough money to get a fair return.&#8221;
In 2009, Costco&#8217;s assistant vice president of publishing, Dan Fuller, <a href="https://www.supermarketguru.com/the-lempert-report/costcos-secret-weapon-1.50-hot-dog-and-soda/">wrote</a>, &#8220;Holding a price that steady for that long sends a clear message about what is possible when you decide to operate your business model on a &#8216;cost plus&#8217; basis instead of a &#8216;what the market will bear&#8217; basis.

Costco Hot Dog

Costco’s $1.50 Hot Dog Combo Remains ‘Sacrosanct’ Amidst Record-High Inflation

Costco's $1.50 Hot Dog Combo Remains 'Sacrosanct' Amidst Inflation

Costco

Economy

Food

Heads of the FBI and the MI5, the United Kingdom-equivalent, joined together on Wednesday to warn business leaders of espionage from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) subverting the Western economy and national security. 
FBI Director Christopher Wray and MI5 Director General Ken McCallum alarmed world-leading technology, research, and commercial business owners about the Chinese government&#8217;s long-term threat to Western investments&#8217; economic and national security. They emphasized, however, that the Chinese people — at home and abroad — are victims of the Chinese government themselves.
&#8220;I&#8217;ll start with what this danger looks like,&#8221; Wray <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/directors-remarks-to-business-leaders-in-london-070622">said</a>. &#8220;The Chinese government is set on stealing your technology—whatever it is that makes your industry tick—and using it to undercut your business and dominate your market.&#8221;
&#8220;And they&#8217;re set on using every tool at their disposal to do it,&#8221; he added.
McCallum echoed the statement, calling on leaders to act while the CCP covertly applies pressure across the globe. 
&#8220;By volume, most of what is at risk from Chinese Communist Party aggression is not, so to speak, my stuff,&#8221; McCallum <a href="https://www.mi5.gov.uk/news/speech-by-mi5-and-fbi">said</a>. &#8220;It&#8217;s yours — and others like you.&#8221;
Wray said the CCP uses intelligence officers to target the private sector by using &#8220;co-optees,&#8221; that know intelligence operations, how to recruit sources, and steal secrets from businesses everywhere.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve even caught people affiliated with Chinese companies out in the U.S. heartland, sneaking into fields to dig up proprietary, genetically modified seeds, which would have cost them nearly a decade and billions in research to develop themselves,&#8221; he said.
Wray said CCP operatives use cyber warfare, cheating, and stealing on a massive scale. 
He noted last year Microsoft reported that Chinese government-backed hackers installed more than 10,000 backdoors on U.S. networks, allowing them to access data.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, denied the &#8220;groundless&#8221; allegations from MI5 and the FBI <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-technology-china-beijing-london-4887e9d66e1b016187e4bad88ddb2de0">to the Associated Press</a>, adding that China &#8220;firmly opposes and combats all forms of cyber attacks.&#8221; 
&#8220;We will never encourage, support, or condone cyber attacks,&#8221; the statement said.
Still, the FBI and MI5 leaders say otherwise. 
The FBI director said the Chinese government steals valuable technology from American businesses right through the front door. MI5&#8217;s General McCallum added that CCP operatives &#8220;slowly&#8221; cultivate friendships only to obtain commercially unavailable information and use it to promote national interest. 
&#8220;The aim of these tactics is to create a debt of obligation on the part of the target, who will eventually find it difficult to refuse inevitable requests for favors in return,&#8221; McCallum said.
Wray warned of conducting business with Chinese companies because the CCP owns them.
&#8220;When you deal with a Chinese company, know you&#8217;re also dealing with the Chinese government,&#8221; he said
McCallum and Wray shifted from the complex danger China poses to companies to forecasting &#8220;the most horrific business disruptions the world has ever seen&#8221; if China forcibly took over Taiwan. 
&#8220;We&#8217;ve seen China looking for ways to insulate their economy against potential sanctions, trying to cushion themselves from harm if they do anything to draw the ire of the international community,&#8221; Wray said. &#8220;In our world, we call that kind of behavior a clue.&#8221;
Compared to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and its effect on Western investments — which have built over the years in both countries — between sanctions and Chinese law forbidding compliance, businesses could see the same impact but on a much larger scale. 
&#8220;That&#8217;s not just geopolitics,&#8221; said Wray. &#8220;It&#8217;s business forecasting . . . but while the threat is immense, that doesn&#8217;t mean harm is inevitable.&#8221;
President Joe Biden in May signaled that the U.S Military would respond if China invaded Taiwan, though the White House quickly clarified the president&#8217;s remarks by saying U.S. policy toward Taiwan has not changed.
The Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-technology-china-beijing-london-4887e9d66e1b016187e4bad88ddb2de0">reported</a> a Chinese embassy spokesman said the Taiwan issue was &#8220;purely China&#8217;s internal affair&#8221; with &#8220;no room for compromise or concession&#8221; regarding questions of China&#8217;s territory and sovereignty.
&#8220;We will strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and efforts,&#8221; the statement said. It noted, however, that China will &#8220;reserve the option of taking all necessary measures in response to the interference of foreign forces.&#8221;

MI5 and FBI joint press conference

FBI And MI5 Warn Business Leaders: Chinese Espionage Sweeping Across The West

FBI And MI5 Warn Business Leaders Chinese Espionage Sweeping Across The West, China-Taiwan Conflict 

China

National Security

United Kingdom

COVID and the lockdown-induced recession did a number on American businesses and families. Yet more than two years since the crisis began, the economy still seems to be on its last leg — even amid President Joe Biden’s lofty plan to “Build Back Better.” In a four-part series, The Daily Wire chronicles the “Bidenomics” regime and how it is eviscerating the American people.
COVID and the lockdown-induced recession sent millions of employees home — and many of them never returned.
Virtually overnight, the unemployment rate soared from 3.5% to 14.7%, according to the U.S. <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a>. Through the following months, firms quickly ramped up hiring and as of May 2022, unemployment is once again at a robust 3.6%. 
But with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/upwards-of-40-of-workers-are-thinking-about-quitting-their-jobs-report">more jobs open</a> than people available to fill them, the United States soon faced the opposite problem — which economists have dubbed the “Great Resignation.” Long lines plagued retail stores, restaurants were short staffed, and — perhaps most importantly — logistics companies <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/at-the-edge-of-a-cliff-trucking-industry-leader-says-rewarding-people-not-to-work-vaccine-mandates-are-worsening-supply-chain">struggled to fill positions</a>, worsening the supply chain crisis and increasing inflation for consumer goods.
Even as businesses scrambled to attract workers, the labor force participation rate — the percentage of adults who are either holding a job or actively seeking one — had still not recovered from the dip it experienced in early 2020, according to more <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CIVPART">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a> data. 
It was as if someone were paying people to stay at home and refuse to work.
In March 2021, President Joe Biden enacted the American Rescue Plan — a $1.9 trillion package that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/impact-of-covid-unemployment-benefits-on-jobless-rates">extended</a> the $300 weekly bonus unemployment benefits first passed under President Donald Trump through September 2021. A few months later — in the interest of returning their labor markets to normalcy — nearly half of American governors prematurely <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/unemployment-benefits-states-end-federal-aid/">opted out</a> of the extension.
For many states, the move was a success. Florida businesses <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-ron-desantis-was-right-to-pull-florida-out-of-extra-unemployment-checks">hired</a> 1.3 million workers between late May 2021 and August 2021, with 400,000 hires occurring in the three weeks after Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) nixed the unemployment program, according to data compiled by the <a href="https://thefga.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/How-DeSantis-Kicked-FL-Economy-Into-Overdrive-10-07-21.pdf">Foundation for Government Accountability</a>. Meanwhile, a paper published by the <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w29575">National Bureau of Economic Research</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/surprise-enhanced-unemployment-benefits-significantly-increased-unemployment-study">confirmed</a> that states choosing to leave the program saw “the flow of unemployed workers into employment” increase by two-thirds.
The <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-06/56387-CBO-Grassley-Letter.pdf">Congressional Budget Office</a> likewise discovered that extending $600 weekly unemployment checks — the original policy passed under President Donald Trump’s $2.3 trillion CARES Act — would cause “five of every six recipients” to earn more collecting the payments than returning to their jobs. After the benefits were later reduced to $300 per week, however, nearly half of jobless workers were still poised to do the same, according to <a href="https://www.jpmorganchase.com/institute/research/household-income-spending/when-unemployment-insurance-benefits-are-rolled-back/">JPMorgan Chase</a>.
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) confirmed to The Daily Wire that “study after study” has proven that the American Rescue Plan “fueled the inflation fire” by paying people “more to stay home than to reconnect to their jobs.”
“When Republican states opted to end the lavish unemployment benefits early, more Americans returned to work,” he commented. “Had states across the country followed suit, employment would have increased by 1.6 million jobs — bolstering our recovery.”
Nevertheless, labor shortages lasted through much of 2021. In one <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/survey-economists-foresee-high-inflation-supply-chain-crisis-labor-shortages-lasting-well-into-2022">survey</a> of economists conducted by <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/supply-chain-bottlenecks-elevated-inflation-to-last-well-into-next-year-survey-finds-11634479202">The Wall Street Journal</a>, nearly one-fifth of respondents pointed to the phenomenon as the “biggest threat” to economic growth.
Even though there was by no means a shortage of available jobs and even as nominal wages continued to rise, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-the-products-gutting-your-bank-account-as-inflation-soars">real wages</a> — which account for the effect of inflation upon workers’ earnings — dropped 3% between May 2021 and May 2022. To enjoy the same standard of living, an American earning $50,000 per year would therefore have to work longer hours or slash his budget by $1,500.
“Workers are watching their paychecks fall further and further behind rising prices at the pump and the grocery store,” Brady said. “Many Americans are cutting back on common household expenses, and taking on more debt to make ends meet. But for low-income households, they’re being hit the hardest because they’ve had their savings wiped out.”
Businesses are hardly immune from rising price levels. In addition to contending with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gas-prices-hit-grim-national-average-of-5-per-gallon">higher energy prices</a>, the low availability of workers helped to prevent inputs from reaching their facilities — causing more than 90% of manufacturing leaders to identify higher raw material costs as one of the “primary business challenges” in early 2022, according to a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/majority-of-manufacturers-predict-recession-within-the-next-year">survey</a> from the <a href="https://www.nam.org/manufacturers-remain-resilient-as-recession-concerns-rise-17896/?stream=series-press-releases">National Association of Manufacturers</a>.
From May 2021 to May 2022, the Producer Price Index (PPI) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-for-businesses-continues-at-double-digit-pace">rose 10.8%</a>, a report from the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ppi.nr0.htm">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a> revealed.
“For six months in a row, Main Street businesses have been hit by double-digit inflation,” Brady said, “and that means higher prices ahead for families as businesses are forced to pass the increases along in this cruel Biden economy.”

Readers-Pass—Zeisloft—Bidenomics–Getting-Paid-to-Stay-Home_22 (2)

Bidenomics: Getting Paid To Stay Home

Unemployment

Amazon founder <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jeff-bezos">Jeff Bezos</a> blasted <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a> again after the commander-in-chief demanded that gas stations lower their prices “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-blasted-over-do-it-now-demand-on-privately-owned-gas-stations-its-your-fault">and do it now</a>.”
Bezos, a liberal and the owner of the leftist Washington Post, criticized the comment in a tweet that questioned whether Biden understood basic economics. It was the second time in two months that Bezos has weighed in with stinging criticism of Biden.
“Ouch. Inflation is far too important a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this,” Bezos wrote. “It’s either straight ahead misdirection or a deep misunderstanding of basic market dynamics.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Ouch. Inflation is far too important a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this. It’s either straight ahead misdirection or a deep misunderstanding of basic market dynamics. <a href="https://t.co/XgKfEICZpk">https://t.co/XgKfEICZpk</a>
&mdash; Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffBezos/status/1543409762867494912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The Biden administration has scrambled to spin soaring pump prices as the fault of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Big Oil, and now gasoline retailers. Critics say the administration has helped create the high gas prices by cutting production in the U.S. in favor of anti-fossil fuel environmental policies.
Biden’s latest bid to blame factors beyond his control for the price of gas, which has topped $5 a gallon in recent weeks, pinned the blame on gas stations.
“My message to the companies running gas stations and setting prices at the pump is simple: this is a time of war and global peril,” Biden said. “Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you’re paying for the product. And do it now.”
In May, Bezos rebuked Biden on the same issue – inflation. That clapback came after Biden said wealthy companies – presumably including Bezos’ online retail giant Amazon – don’t pay their fair share of taxes.
&#8220;You want to bring down inflation?” Biden tweeted. “Let&#8217;s make sure the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share.&#8221;
Bezos responded by saying Biden was confused on Econ 101. He said the ill-fated Disinformation Governance Board, which the Biden administration was trying to establish at the time, should “review this tweet. or maybe they need to form a new Non Sequitur Board instead.”
&#8220;Raising corp taxes is fine to discuss,” Bezos wrote. “Taming inflation is critical to discuss. Mushing them together is just misdirection.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The newly created Disinformation Board should review this tweet, or maybe they need to form a new Non Sequitur Board instead. Raising corp taxes is fine to discuss. Taming inflation is critical to discuss. Mushing them together is just misdirection. <a href="https://t.co/ye4XiNNc2v">https://t.co/ye4XiNNc2v</a>
&mdash; Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffBezos/status/1525309091970699265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 14, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Biden appears to be alienating the nation’s richest people, as Tesla chief <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-splits-with-biden-advisers-says-recession-is-inevitable">Elon Musk has been increasingly critical of the administration</a> this year, as well.

Amazon Unveils Its First Smartphone

Jeff Bezos Renews Attack On Biden’s ‘Deep Misunderstanding’ Of Economics In Withering Tweet

Jeff Bezos Renews Attack On Biden's 'Deep Misunderstanding' Of Economics In Withering Tweet

Gas Prices

Jeff Bezos

A key data tracker used by a branch of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/federal-reserve">Federal Reserve</a> indicates that the United States <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/economy">economy</a> is showing the negative growth seen in the first quarter continued, meaning the U.S. economy is already in a recession.
On Friday, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/01/atlanta-fed-gdp-tracker-shows-the-us-economy-is-likely-in-a-recession.html">reported</a> that the Atlanta Federal Reserve&#8217;s <a href="https://www.atlantafed.org/cqer/research/gdpnow">GDPNow tracker</a> — a tool that monitors and reports <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/economics">economic</a> data in-real time  — estimated that U.S. second-quarter growth shrank by 2.1%. On Thursday, GDPNow estimated that growth in the second quarter shrunk by 1.6%. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.
“GDPNow has a strong track record, and the closer we get to July 28th’s release [of the initial Q2 GDP estimate], the more accurate it becomes,” Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research said, according to CNBC.
&#8220;Coupled with the first-quarter’s decline of 1.6%, that would fit the technical definition of recession,&#8221; the business media outlet added.
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/larry-summers-says-risk-2022-143147135.html">told</a> the media on Friday that there is an increasingly likely risk of a recession.
“The risks of a 2022 recession are significantly higher than I would have judged six or nine weeks ago,” Summers <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/larry-summers-says-risk-2022-143147135.html">said</a> during an interview on Bloomberg Television’s &#8220;Wall Street Week.&#8221;  “If the economy did go into recession in the next six to nine months, then you’d probably see a reduction in inflationary pressures,&#8221; he added.
The predictions come as the U.S. is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-reserve-chairman-says-fixing-inflation-highly-likely-to-involve-some-pain-for-the-american-people">experiencing</a> record-high inflation alongside unprecedented monetary policy by the Federal Reserve in an effort to get surging prices under control. A recession compounded by inflation is known as &#8220;stagflation.&#8221;
In May, inflation rose to 8.6% in the U.S. In an effort to tame rising prices, the Federal Reserve began <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-reserve-takes-most-aggressive-action-to-fight-inflation-in-three-decades">hiking interest rates</a> — most recently through a 0.75% increment that represented the boldest move to battle inflation in nearly three decades. Rate hikes increase the cost of borrowing capital, thereby tightening business investment and consumer activity. Earlier in June, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller warned that efforts from the central bank to tackle higher price levels would lead to higher unemployment.
On Wednesday, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/federal-reserve">Federal Reserve</a> Chairman Jerome Powell said that fixing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/inflation">inflation</a> will “highly likely” involve some pain for the American people, but said failing to address it would be even worse for the nation and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/economy">economy</a>.
During a panel at the European Central Bank forum, host Francine Laqua asked Powell, “If you’re speaking out to the American people to try and help them understand how long it will take for, you know, monetary policy to go back to something that resembles normalcy … what would you tell them?”
“I would say that we fully understand and appreciate … the pain people are going through dealing with higher inflation, that we have the tools to address that and the resolve to use them, and that we are committed to and will succeed in getting inflation down to two percent,” he responded.
“The process is likely, highly likely to involve some pain, but the worst pain would be from failing to address this high inflation and allowing it to become persistent,” Powell added.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="ECB Forum on Central Banking 2022 - Wednesday 29 June - Policy Panel" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0Yh4Bzpnet4?start=5028&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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America, downard trend

We May Already Be In A Recession, Key Fed Tracker Shows

Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDPNow Tracker Estimates That The Second-Quarter Growth Contracted By 2.1%

Federal Reserve

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/federal-reserve">Federal Reserve</a> Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that fixing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/inflation">inflation</a> will &#8220;highly likely&#8221; involve some pain for the American people, but claimed that failing to address it would be even worse for the nation and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/economy">economy</a>.
During a panel at the European Central Bank forum, host Francine Laqua asked Powell, &#8220;If you&#8217;re speaking out to the American people to try and help them understand how long it will take for, you know, monetary policy to go back to something that resembles normalcy &#8230; what would you tell them?&#8221;
&#8220;I would say that we fully understand and appreciate &#8230; the pain people are going through dealing with higher inflation, that we have the tools to address that and the resolve to use them, and that we are committed to and will succeed in getting inflation down to two percent,&#8221; he responded.
&#8220;The process is likely, highly likely to involve some pain, but the worst pain would be from failing to address this high inflation and allowing it to become persistent,&#8221; Powell added.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="ECB Forum on Central Banking 2022 - Wednesday 29 June - Policy Panel" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0Yh4Bzpnet4?start=5027&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The United States experienced record inflation in May as it skyrocketed to 8.6%.
In an effort to manage high inflation, monetary policymakers at the Federal Reserve are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-reserve-takes-most-aggressive-action-to-fight-inflation-in-three-decades">hiking interest rates</a> — most recently through a 0.75% increment that represented the boldest move to battle inflation in nearly three decades. Rate hikes increase the cost of borrowing capital, thereby tightening business investment and consumer activity. Earlier in June, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller warned that efforts from the central bank to tackle higher price levels would lead to higher unemployment.
The Fed&#8217;s chairman&#8217;s answer came shortly after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fed-chairman-we-now-understand-better-how-little-we-understand-about-inflation">admitting</a> that his understanding of inflation was more limited than he thought.
Laqua had previously posed to the panel, “Hindsight is a beautiful thing, I know … but going forward … how do we need to look at inflation differently? So, for example, in the U.S. — the stimulus. Did we circulate the impact this would have on inflation?”
“I think we now understand better how little we understand about inflation,” Powell responded.
The Bloomberg TV anchor responded with a chuckle, “That’s not very reassuring.”
“No, honestly, this was unpredicted. I was looking at the time of our June meeting one year ago, of the 35 people who filed with a survey of professional forecasters, 34 of them had inflation below four percent for the last year. And of course, it was way above four percent.”
Powell also clarified that experts were using an outdated model to predict inflation, which is why none of our nation&#8217;s supposed-brightest economic minds saw the inflation coming.
“So really, everyone had the same model — which was the <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/phillipscurve.asp">Phillips curve</a> model — and it just was not capable of producing high inflation. But what it was missing was something that’s been completely missing in the data for 40 years, which is basically the collapse of the supply-side.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Jerome Powell: &quot;I think we now understand better how little we understand about inflation.&quot;
Host: &quot;That&#39;s not very reassuring&quot;
Jerome : &quot;This was unpredicted&quot;
Only the &quot;experts&quot; and the media didn&#39;t see this coming. Just about everyone else did.
Sound ON <a href="https://t.co/6Gv35rXPrW">pic.twitter.com/6Gv35rXPrW</a>
&mdash; Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) <a href="https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1542214066218774528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The data indicate that the American people are already feeling &#8220;pain&#8221; from inflation and directly blaming President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a> for it.
Recently, CNN&#8217;s senior data reporter Harry Enten explained that the University of Michigan&#8217;s consumer sentiment survey &#8220;is the worst consumer sentiment ever measured by the University of Michigan going all the way back since 1952.”
“And in terms of why are consumers feeling this bad?” the senior analyst continued. “Well, it’s pretty clear why they’re feeling this bad, and that is because the Consumer Price Index is the worst it’s ever been in a midterm cycle since ’74; it’s the worst it’s been in any presidential cycle or midterm cycle since 1980. So, it’s not much of a surprise. You can see it, it’s literally off the charts on the table on your screen.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
CNN&#39;s Harry Enten on Biden&#39;s &quot;awful&quot; approval rating on inflation: Biden is &quot;doing WORSE than Jimmy Carter&quot; <a href="https://t.co/2vbBx4tLvE">pic.twitter.com/2vbBx4tLvE</a>
&mdash; RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1536879096147460096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Evidence also shows that Americans have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/even-millionaires-cut-back-on-buying-homes-restaurant-food-gas-thanks-to-surging-inflation">changed</a> their eating habits, vacation plans, and more as they struggle to make ends meet in Biden&#8217;s economy.
Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.

Jerome Powell

Federal Reserve Chairman Says Fixing Inflation ‘Highly Likely To Involve Some Pain’ For The American People

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell Says Fixing Inflation 'Highly Likely To Involve Some Pain' For American People

The COVID pandemic and the lockdown-induced recession did a number on American businesses and families. More than two years since the crisis began, the economy still seems to be on its last leg — even amid President Joe Biden’s lofty plan to “Build Back Better.” In a four-part series, The Daily Wire chronicles the “Bidenomics” regime and how it is eviscerating the American people.
From sea to shining sea, pay a visit to any grocery store or gas station and the story will be the same: Inflation is gut-punching American families who are trying to make ends meet.
Inflation — the rate at which price levels rise — was relatively stable for the past four decades. Especially in the 2010s, inflation <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL">remained at or below</a> the Federal Reserve’s targeted 2% annual increase. 
But that all began to change when President Joe Biden assumed office. 
In less than two years, inflation faced by consumers has <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf">soared</a> from 1.4% to 8.6% — the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-the-products-gutting-your-bank-account-as-inflation-soars">highest levels</a> seen since the beginning of the Reagan administration. As of <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf">May 2022</a>, the price of gasoline was up nearly 49%; the price of meat, poultry and fish was up 14.2%; and the price of used cars was up 16%.
Meanwhile, costs faced by businesses are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-for-businesses-continues-at-double-digit-pace">skyrocketing at double-digit rates</a>, driving many executives to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-survey-reveals-when-ceos-expect-a-recession-to-hit">sound the alarm</a> over a coming recession. Likewise, consumer confidence — one of the most important metrics in the United States’ consumption-driven economy — has <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UMCSENT">plummeted</a> over the course of the Biden era. 
<a href="https://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/HHP_May2022_KeyResults.pdf">Polls</a> show that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-95-of-voters-say-inflation-is-somewhat-or-very-serious">95%</a> of Americans believe inflation is “very serious” or “somewhat serious,” that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/94-percent-of-americans-concerned-about-inflation-overwhelmingly-trust-republicans-to-handle-it-poll">94%</a> are “upset” or “concerned” about the impact of rising prices and that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/70-disapprove-of-bidens-handling-of-gas-prices-inflation-poll">70%</a> disapprove of Biden’s management of the inflation crisis.
But is Biden really responsible for high inflation? To a large extent, yes — and more importantly, he has neither owned up to his mistake nor made efforts to meaningfully combat higher prices.
At the outset of his administration, President Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-covid-relief-plan-where-is-the-money-actually-going">signed</a> the American Rescue Plan — a $1.9 trillion stimulus package that included $1,400 relief payments for those who met the qualifications, $350 billion for state and local governments and an extension of enhanced federal unemployment insurance. Next to President Donald Trump’s $2.2 trillion CARES Act, the American Rescue Plan was one of the largest federal spending measures in American history.
The timing of the American Rescue Plan contributed to its inflationary impact. Because the CARES Act was enacted at the worst part of the recession, it had a significant role in stemming the decline in economic output. The American Rescue Plan came as the United States economy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/comparing-trump-and-bidens-covid-relief-bills">had already been rebounding</a> for several months — meaning that the additional spending was largely unnecessary and, in many respects, threw a wrench into the recovery.
David Bahnsen, founder of Manhattan-based wealth management firm The Bahnsen Group, told The Daily Wire that “supply-side” considerations have played the largest role in worsening inflation by providing “a massive incentive for workers to not work.” The American Rescue Plan, according to Bahnsen, has exacerbated the more significant problem of global supply chains struggling to keep up with surging demand following the recession.
“This was the last thing the supply chain needed, and it was the last thing the food and beverage industry needed,” Bahnsen said. “That element alone — federal subsidy of unemployment regardless of means testing all the way through the fall — was a fiscal disaster.”
Indeed, economists Harry Holzer, Glenn Hubbard and Michael Strain <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/surprise-enhanced-unemployment-benefits-significantly-increased-unemployment-study">said in a recent paper</a> that states which prematurely nixed the enhanced unemployment benefits saw “the flow of unemployed workers into employment increase by around two-thirds.”
Bahnsen observed that the loose monetary policy pursued by the Fed since the recession has primarily impacted inflation in sectors such as housing. “Low interest rates have boosted asset inflation, which is different from the cost of goods and services,” he remarked. “I believe the Fed needs to normalize interest rates to stop the exacerbation of malinvestment and capital misallocation, but I question what higher interest rates will mean for inflation.”
The Fed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-reserve-takes-most-aggressive-action-to-fight-inflation-in-three-decades">hiked interest rates</a> by 0.75% in June — marking the largest increment since 1994. The central bank had already <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-fed-jacks-key-rate-up-half-point-as-inflation-surges">increased rates</a> by 0.5% in May — the largest such increase since 2000 — after a 0.25% rate hike from near-zero levels in March. To <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-is-the-key-political-problem-biden-powell-meet-to-discuss-taming-high-prices">signal that the administration is serious</a> about combating inflation, President Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met with Fed Chair Jerome Powell to show support for the higher interest rate regime.
Russ Vought, who directed the U.S. Office of Management and Budget under the Trump administration, diagnosed the problem as the White House being “largely controlled by ideologues.”
“With inflation over 8% today, if given a multitrillion-dollar ‘Build Back Better’ bill, Biden would sign it,” Vought explained. “I can’t tell you whether the President is largely personally disconnected from the American people or not, for whatever reason, but we’re not seeing that pivot.”
Though Vought said that Yellen is perhaps the one official who has “behind the scenes” concerns about inflation, he noted that she has “not been vocal in restraining the spending.” 
Yellen said last year that she was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/despite-skyrocketing-inflation-janet-yellen-will-keep-pushing-for-biden-spending-agenda">willing to pursue</a> an aggressive spending agenda because the United States has “been fighting inflation that’s too low and interest rates that are too low now for a decade” — promising any potential inflation “spurt” from Biden’s policies would fade away by 2022. In the subsequent months, progressive economists and Democratic officials such as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-obama-economist-debunks-biden-talking-point-about-root-causes-of-inflation">Larry Summers</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-obama-chief-economist-democratic-backed-anti-price-gouging-bills-wont-fix-inflation-would-likely-make-shortages-worse">Jason Furman</a> began questioning the Biden administration’s agenda.
One year later, Yellen finally <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/janet-yellen-admits-she-was-wrong-about-inflation-being-small-risk">declared</a>: “I was wrong.”
“Yellen is not a policymaker in this administration, but a spokesperson and figurehead for Ron Klain, Brian Deese and Jared Bernstein,” Bahnsen said. “Secretary Yellen was not wrong about the low rates and low inflation from 2008 to 2020, but her surprise at the demand surge and supply inadequacy of 2021 reflects her Keynesian obsession that fails to understand the supply side of the economy.”
President Biden has thus far failed to acknowledge that his policies have contributed to soaring inflation. The commander-in-chief has instead blamed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-says-exxon-made-more-money-than-god-this-year-blames-them-for-gas-price-spike">corporate price gouging</a> and “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/president-biden-blames-vladimir-putin-for-record-high-inflation">Putin’s price hike</a>” for the rising prices. Biden even <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-claims-inflation-is-worse-everywhere-but-here-thats-not-even-close-to-true">falsely claimed</a> that inflation is “worse everywhere but here” — though developed nations such as Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea and Japan are experiencing lower inflation than the United States.
“You have to be straight up to the American people,” Vought noted. “It’s a problem. If you don’t want to admit that your policies have caused it, at least do not try to malign the intelligence of the American people by coming up with a little gimmicky response. Just be straight up and take your medicine.”

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Bidenomics: How Inflation Got Out Of Control

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