Hegemon on clay feet: Americans are surprised by the rise in inflation in the country

Summing up the results of the year of the US President Joe Biden's rule, American political scientists and journalists increasingly identify the growth of inflation in the country as the main "achievement" of the current administration. According to official statements, the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which traditionally determines the level of inflation in the United States, was 7%, which has become an absolute anti-record over the past 40 years. Even adherents of the leading Democratic Party have to agree with this fact.

"Welcome to President Joe Biden's America: record high inflation, the ongoing crisis on the southern border and the rapid increase in public debt. All this while rejecting his main election promise to stop Covid-19," writes economics expert, journalist Bradley Devlin for The American Conservative. The reporter sees the reason for the growth of the US government debt as the incorrect distribution of subsidies during the Covid pandemic, as well as commitment to so-called "progressive priorities".

The allocated funds had to be used to improve infrastructure, which is what the American working class really needs, Bradley Devlin believes. The reckless embezzlement of the Biden administration, according to the reporter, added two trillion dollars to the national debt. At the beginning of 2022, the US national debt has grown to $29 trillion, which cannot but affect the economy as a whole.

Recall that at the beginning of 2021, the Joe Biden administration proposed to additionally print two trillion dollars as anti-crisis measures, despite the fact that a considerable amount of "Covid" savings had already accumulated in the hands of the population. According to Bloomberg estimates, citizens of countries with the largest economies in the world have accumulated at least $3 trillion, because people were forced to stay at home and did not spend money on shopping, dining in restaurants and traveling. Half of this amount, according to Bloomberg, was in the hands of Americans.

Biden's decision caused a lot of controversy, and most experts predicted an uncontrolled price increase in the United States due to the emission of unsecured bills. However, the head of the Federal Reserve System of the United States Jerome Powell assured then that there is no cause for concern. Hopes for the status of the US dollar did not materialise, and the US faced record inflation since 1981 in terms of the Consumer Price Index.

"Over the past year, the price of a used car has increased by more than 30%. Beef prices increased by 21%. Crude oil increased by 55%, lumber - 35%, wheat - 37%, sugar - 33%, corn - 39%, palm oil - 43%. Do you ever drink coffee in the morning? Oh, very bad. The price of coffee has increased by 108% over the past year. Did you like oatmeal for breakfast? Oh, sorry. Oats have risen in price by 114%," said the popular TV presenter Tucker Carlson, clearly explaining the impact of inflation on the lives of ordinary Americans.

He explained that the Consumer Price Index does not reflect the true state of the economy: "The problem is that the reality is much worse, and that's because the consumer index is useless as a guide to life in America, it doesn't really measure the cost of living. Thus, this is a false indicator. This is the number one scam, and it's not the only one. The consumer index is a very complex series of formulas. Some of them were formulated in good faith. Others were created to deceive you."

As an indicator of inflation, Tucker Carlson cited rising prices in the real estate market: "$2,600 a month for a small apartment in an extremely rundown part of the state, which cost $800 a year ago." Thus, the frontman of the Fox News channel accused the government of hiding the true scale of the increase in prices of goods and services instead of the announced 7%:

"This allows reckless, economically illiterate leaders to hide the mess they have created. Fake numbers allow fake economists to tell a fake story about what is really happening in the country." The TV presenter also explicitly hinted that inflation is beneficial to financial magnates, since it reduces their debts, while it makes ordinary consumers poorer and destroys their lives.

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson made a statement even tougher on this topic: "Inflation is the Democrats' tax on the middle class." The senator expressed the opinion that the Democratic Party that came to power, led by President Biden, deliberately launched the process of price growth, which is a vicious circle for the economy: "Society should understand that the Democrats are specifically using inflation to compensate for the deficit in spending. This is a very dangerous process. The United States is currently in an inflationary cycle. Despite the fact that Americans' wages are growing, their growth is being destroyed by inflation. This is not happening by chance and is caused by the policy of the Democrats."

The politician John Michael Mulvaney, aka "Mick" Mulvaney, the former acting head of the administration of US President Donald Trump, agrees with the fact that inflation in the United States was started by Democrats. Mulvaney explained that "pumping up the system with extra trillions of dollars makes it difficult for the product to enter the market. More money means fewer goods and services - that's the formula for inflation." According to the politician's calculations, six trillion unsecured bills were printed, which led to "a large amount of money chasing a small amount of goods."

And it is not so much the pandemic that is to blame for this, as the economic agenda of the ruling party. Also, the economic situation, according to Mick Mulvaney, was negatively affected by the Democrats' cancellation of many small business support programs adopted under President Trump. "Even if the Covid pandemic ends, or we develop an ultra-effective anti-Covid vaccine, inflation will not go away. The Democrats are not going to change anything," the politician summed up.

Many entrepreneurs who have already felt the changes in the economic climate in the state have no doubt that the launched process will be long-term. "Inflation is definitely not going anywhere," said Aaron Jagdfeld, CEO of Generac Power Systems, sharing his concerns on Fox Business.

The head of the company is concerned about the need to increase pay for employees and a number of other problems that the company has recently faced. "Inflation will become a multi-year trend," predicts another interviewer of the channel, director of Vaneck Jan van Eck. The businessman claims that the time of attractive prices and services for Americans, who have been accustomed to economic stability for many years, is over.

Ex-President Donald Trump did not fail to put pressure on the growth of inflation, as the achilles heel of the Democrats, in his first public speech in Arizona in 2022. He recalled that during his reign, refuelling a car cost an ordinary American less than two dollars, whereas now this amount is six to seven "greenbacks". "My country is going to hell!" the billionaire summed up.

It is noteworthy that the US presidential administration itself prefers not to notice the current situation, stating that inflation is “transitory". Joe Biden said at an event at the White House on Monday that it is a "great asset”, The Wall Street Journal reported. "This is a great asset! More inflation!" Biden shouted in response to a question from Fox News reporter Peter Doocy.

It is difficult to say exactly what the current US president meant, but this incident perfectly fits the description given to him by US Navy officer Hansel Bumgarner on the Quora social Internet platform: "Biden has a downside - when it comes to the economy. He doesn't know a damn thing about it. You can give him 100% accurate data and he won't understand it. Literally every single thing he has done in his nearly half a century regarding the American economy has harmed the country."

Among the adherents of the Democratic Party, there are also many people who have cooled down in their sympathies for the postulates of the chosen political movement due to the deterioration of living standards. So, USA Today recommends that Democrats "wake up”. "Real economic solutions are needed, too much is at stake right now!" writes USA Today journalist Jill Lawrence.

What these "real economic decisions" will be - a repeated increase in the key rate by the US Federal Reserve System or the unleashing of another "small victorious war", via which all debts will be written off - we will find out in the near future. But it is safe to say that any of these steps will provoke a reaction from the entire world community, including Russia.