Biden on falling inflation: ‘It will take time’
President Joe Biden warned Friday that “it will take time” for inflation to come down, but he reaffirmed that legislation he signed into law earlier this year will soon help raise health care and energy costs limit.
He made the comments at a meeting with business and union leaders at his first public event since returning from a world tour to Egypt, Cambodia and Indonesia.
Biden was heartened by the Democrats’ stronger-than-expected performance in the midterm elections, but he could be entering a dangerous streak when it comes to the economy.
The White House has emphasized a strong job market to allay concerns about a possible recession. However, the Federal Reserve continues to try to slow economic growth by raising interest rates to fight inflation.
It’s a tricky situation that Biden will navigate amidst the turnover in his economics team. Cecilia Rouse, a labor economist who became the first black woman to chair the council of economic advisers, will leave the government in the spring, according to a White House official.
She is expected to return to Princeton University where she is on academic leave. The official was not authorized to discuss personnel changes publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The imminent departure comes as Biden’s term reaches halfway point, often a transitional period for a presidential administration.
Bloomberg was the first to report Rouse’s planned departure, and it said Brian Deese, director of Biden’s National Economic Council, plans to leave next year.
The officer said there was no timetable for Deese to leave.
Another key member of Biden’s economic team, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, has said she wants to remain in government.
“I plan on staying,” she told MSNBC last month. “I am very pleased with the President’s economic program. There is a lot to implement.”
There was additional turnover in the Biden administration earlier this month when Chris Magnus, head of US Customs and Border Protection, was forced out of his job.
Immigration officials are struggling to control the flow of migrants to the United States-Mexico border, a common criticism of Republicans.
At Friday’s event, Biden said his overseas trip demonstrated that “the United States is as well or better positioned than any other nation in the world to lead the global economy for years to come.”
He acknowledged that “it will take time to bring inflation back to normal levels”.
However, he said that “in six short weeks, Americans will begin to feel the effects of the Inflation Reduction Act,” the massive legislation he signed into law in August.
He said legislation capping the cost of insulin for seniors on Medicare at $35 begins Jan. 1.
Thousands of dollars in tax credits will also be available to make homes more energy efficient with new windows, solar panels or heat pumps.
“We’re talking about real money. . . and it will only start to work now,” Biden said.
The focus on the economy could serve as a contrast to the Republican agenda in the House of Representatives, where they have just won a narrow majority and have planned a full investigation into the President, his family and his administration.
___
AP writer Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.
Our new weekly Impact Report newsletter will examine how ESG news and trends are shaping the roles and responsibilities of today’s leaders – and how best to address these challenges. Subscribe here.
