Of course, Biden is an ignoramus about a lot of other things besides economics. From Michael Maharrey at schiffgold.com:
Are “greedy” corporations driving inflation? Could taxing billionaires solve the federal government’s fiscal problems?
According to President Joe Biden, the answer to both questions is yes.
And the correct answer is no.
So, Biden is either economically ignorant or a liar. Or maybe both.
Biden put his economic ignorance on full display with a couple of comments last week.
Greedy Corporations Are Causing Inflation!
Biden made the first comment in a speech during the launch of a new White House supply chain initiative. It had to do with price inflation.
Any corporation that has not brought their prices back down, even as inflation has come down, even as the supply chains have been rebuilt, it’s time to stop the price gouging. Give the American consumer a break.”
The general public eats this stuff. Blaming greedy corporations for rising prices plays to the president’s base.
The truth is that corporations don’t create price inflation. One simply has to reason through the claim to uncover the absurdity of the idea. If corporations can willy-nilly raise prices and enjoy “excessive” profits, why don’t they do it all the time? Did corporations suddenly get greedy in 2021? And why did the Federal Reserve spend a decade fretting about inflation being “too low” as it struggled to hit its 2% target? Was there not enough corporate greed before the coronavirus?
But government people like Biden can get away with this narrative because they have redefined inflation.
Historically, economists defined inflation as an increase in the amount of money and credit — or put another way, an expansion in the money supply. Over the years, the government, along with its apologists in the corporate media and academia, altered the definition to suit government purposes. Today, inflation just means “rising prices.”
