Thursday, November 11, 2021
Economic Mayhem Thursday: Inflation
Now this is bad news: Inflation in spiking like we haven't seen in the last 30 years. According to the Washington Post, driven by ongoing supply-chain issues and gas prices (which act both directly as a hit to consumers when they fuel up their cars, and indirectly through increased transportation costs for other goods).
This is something we haven't had to worry about for a while-- not in the lifetime of most of my students, actually. They don't remember the dark days of the 1970's, when energy costs prompted an enduring shock.
Politically, this is problematic for Democrats. The underlying truth is that politics don't very strongly influence the economy, but we blame politics and politicians for economic problems. This one might be more fixable that most via government, if that government can figure out a way to address the supply chain issues. Some of those issues-- like a lack of truckers-- seem immune to direct government intervention.
For months, many experts have been claiming that inflation was a temporary blip, but now it is looking like a more serious issue-- and it's a challenge that neither party has a good solution for, since their usual answers of tax cuts (by Republicans) and government spending (by Democrats) tend to actually exacerbate this particular problem.
So... let's try thoughts and prayers!
Comments:
<< Home
Higher gas prices are not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe it will help us stop burning fossil fuels!!
Post a Comment
<< Home
