Blaming Putin and the Pandemic

From March 2021 to March 2022, prices for meat, poultry, fish, and eggs rose 13.7 percent. Energy prices were 32 percent higher. Overall, the annual inflation rate of 8.7 percent in March is the highest in forty years. Joe Biden has blamed surging inflation on Putin and the pandemic. Citing a .2 percent reduction in the rate of inflation in April, Biden said,

All of this is progress, but the fight against global supply chain issues related to the pandemic and Putin’s price hike will continue every day. 

While pointing the finger elsewhere, Biden has stifled energy production and spent more money than boatloads of drunken sailors. Both of these are significant contributing factors to rising prices. Biden evades this fact, which isn’t surprising given his loose relationship with reality. To be fair, Trump started the profligate spending. Biden has followed suit and upped the ante.

The global supply chain issues that Biden cites were caused by the inept response to COVID around the world. Governments forced countless businesses to close, and many have never reopened. The lockdowns caused production to be greatly reduced and dramatically disrupted the transportation of the products that were produced.

The fact is supply chain issues and inflation have caused by government policies. Governments across the country shut down businesses, thereby disrupting production and trade. Then both Biden and Trump pumped insane amounts of money into the economy, resulting in more money chasing fewer goods. In blaming Putin and the pandemic for inflation, Biden is deflecting responsibility from the real culprits. Until he recognizes the true cause of these problems, Biden will continue to support destructive policies.

Democrats and many Republicans insist on continuing failed policies. Rather than proposing more spending and more controls on producers, they must adopt a new framework. Blaming Putin and the pandemic won’t do it.