Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was forced to admit that she “got it wrong” on inflation after the Biden White House claimed last year it was “transitory” and nothing much to worry about.
Inflation hit 40-year highs this spring, making it absolutely something to worry about.
“I think I was wrong then about the path that inflation would take,” Yellen told CNN in an interview with Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room,” responding to a question about her 2021 comment that inflation was a “small risk.”
But Yellen quickly went back to pushing excuses, claiming that inflation is the result of changes no one could have expected.
“As I mentioned, there have been unanticipated and large shocks to the economy that have boosted energy and food prices and supply bottlenecks that have affected our economy badly that I didn’t — at the time — didn’t fully understand, but we recognize that now,” she said.
A Treasury representative later gave CNN a statement elaborating on the point.
“The Secretary was pointing out that there have been shocks to the economy that have exacerbated inflationary pressures, which couldn’t have been foreseen 18 months ago, including Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine, multiple successive variants of COVID, and lockdowns in China,” the representative said.
“As [Yellen] also noted, there has been historic growth and record job creation, and our goal is now to transition to steady and stable growth as inflation is brought down,” the representative added.
On Tuesday, Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy tore into Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre over soaring inflation hurting the United States.
During the press briefing, Doocy asked Jean-Pierre whether President Joe Biden took any responsibility for implementing policies that played a role in increasing inflation.
After noting inflation and gas prices reaching record highs, Doocy asked: “In some places in this country now, a gallon of gas costs more than the people on the federal minimum wage are making in an hour. What does the White House want these people to do? Just stop driving to work?”
Jean-Pierre responded by claiming Biden understood what the American people were feeling, saying, “He understands what it means for people who are sitting at their kitchen table and see gas prices go up.”
She then blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for rising gas prices, which has become a key talking point for Democrats.
Doocy doubled down and asked again if Biden believed his policies were impacting inflation.
“His policies has [sic] helped the economy gets back on its feet. That’s what his policies has [sic] — his policies has [sic] done,” Jean-Pierre insisted. “This — when we talk about the gas prices right now, this is indeed Putin’s gas hike. This is what we have seen in the most recent months of what we’re seeing at the gas pump. And so that is a fact, we have seen about 60% increase in the past several months.”
This is an excerpt from Conservative Brief.
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