President Joe Biden stated that there is no short-term fix to combat high energy, food and gas prices at the moment, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Inflation levels are at a record high. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the consumer index had increased by 8.3% over the last year, as of April. The president warned that there is no rapid end in sight.
“There’s a lot going on right now,” the president said, according to The Wall Street Journal. “The idea (that) we’re going to be able to, you know, click a switch, bring down the cost of gasoline, is not likely in the near term, nor is it with regard to food.”
- Biden and his administration have been paying close attention to the economy in an attempt to show his commitment to combating inflation, CNN states. But the president says that there is little he can do.
- “We can’t take immediate action that I’m aware of yet to figure out how we’re bringing down the prices of gasoline back to $3 a gallon. And we can’t do that immediately with regard to food prices either,” he said, per CNN.
What drives inflation? The Farm Bureau turned to the Federal Reserve and the supply chain to explain the spike in inflation.
- “Quite simply, too much money was created by the Federal Reserve Bank, mostly in 2020, and it is turning, inevitably, into inflation,” the Bureau stated.
- The country is still feeling the aftershocks of the pandemic. Transportation and labor bottlenecks continue to place pressure on the prices of goods.
- However, the Farm Bureau states that the country’s economic levels are almost at what they were during the pandemic, so the supply chain isn’t fully to blame for high prices.