Posted originally on Apr 18, 2024 By Martin Armstrong 

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) released on April 10 by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation rose by 0.4% on a monthly basis and by 3.5% on the yearly. One must only look at their bills, items in the store, or open their eyes to see that the cost of living in every area has far surpassed this figure. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell released some disparaging comments regarding the data, and we should not expect any rate declines in the near-term. The Fed’s 2% target is simply not possible due to excessive government spending. Inflation was never transitory and we have not had a soft landing. Yet, the Biden Administration insists the “economy is going in the right direction.”

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has insisted that greedy corporations are to blame for price gouging. He’s repeatedly called on large corporations, more specifically, to pass along their savings on to their customers. We’ve said that. We’ve been very consistent about that.  And that includes rip-offs such as shrinkflation,” she insists.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also voices positive sentiments on inflations, citing how inflation is down two-thirds from its peak in June 2022 when it reached 9.1%. Yellen fails to voice that inflation had peaked due to the entire global economy shutting down due to the pandemic that created the most significant supply chain shortage I have witnessed in my lifetime. This is also why we see “strong” jobs reports in contrast to the lockdown that decimated small businesses and caused thousands to lose their ability to provide for their families.

Remember, inflation was only 1.4% when Joe Biden took office – far beneath the Fed’s target. Inflation has risen as a direct result of fiscal policies under Bidenomics.

Joe Biden mistakenly believes he has helped to tame inflation, and the private sector is solely responsible for the high cost of living. “Today’s report shows inflation has fallen more than 60% from its peak, but we have more to do to lower costs for hardworking families. Prices are still too high for housing and groceries, even as prices for key household items like milk and eggs are lower than a year ago,” according to a statement on the White House website.

Yellen and all those in line with the current administration want the public to believe that Russia and a slow-to-recover supply chain crisis caused inflation. “And I also want to remind you what caused inflation. We know that inflation was caused by supply chains that broke down because of the pandemic. Russia’s war in Ukraine — we know that caused oil prices to skyrocket. Our economy was disrupted by so many ways because of the pandemic.  That’s what caused inflation,” Yellen stated in March.

Russia’s war in Ukraine would have had minimal effect on America. In fact, America could have profited on the issue by exporting energy and agricultural goods to Europe. The issue is that the US government has been sending blank checks to Ukraine and digging itself deeper into debt. The national debt has never been higher and shows no signs of stopping. The war shows no sign of stopping and Biden has ignored any calls to curtail funding Ukraine. Then, Biden’s largest spending packages have gone to climate change initiatives such as the Inflation Reduction Act, which Yellen herself said was intended to combat climate change.

As for the supply chain crisis, primarily energy, those who read this blog understand what happened with Nordstream. Biden’s first act as president was to eliminate the Keystone Pipeline plans and place countless regulations on the energy sector that caused America to become an energy-dependent nation. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been used as a political tool to play with gas prices and removed America’s energy safety net.

Jerome Powell stated that the jobs report was unimpressive in comparison to rising inflation. “More recent data shows solid growth and continued strength in the labor market, but also a lack of further progress so far this year on returning to our 2% inflation goal,” the Fed chief said during a panel discussion this Tuesday. What Powell cannot voice out loud is that government policy has made the Fed’s job impossible. There is absolutely nothing that the central bank can do to curb government spending. “The recent data have clearly not given us greater confidence, and instead indicate that it’s likely to take longer than expected to achieve that confidence,” Powell said. The economy is heading in the wrong direction, yet Washington is continually gas lighting the public into believing the economy has recovered. The economy fell with COVID, but the pandemic is no longer the reason that rates are rising.

Are companies price gouging? Some certainly have been. The price of business has also drastically risen in every area. TAXES are through the roof and everyone is forced to raise prices, landlords included, to meet Biden’s tax hikes that are simply unconstitutional. Why are we paying for foreign wars and foreign nationals to live within the US?

It is ridiculous to believe that the private sector is to blame for inflation. Even the Federal Reserve has said that they are at the mercy of the government’s fiscal policy and cannot do anything to prevent excessive, dangerous government spending. Inflation will not go down so long as the government is funding wars, which produce nothing, and thoughtless non-issues such as climate change that are rooted in America Last policies.