Blaming Inflation On Putin Is Detached From Reality, Biden Is At Fault
Inflation has been rising steadily since Biden’s inauguration, for reasons that are not in his control and for others that absolutely are. Putin isn't to blame.
Editorial Team
March 14, 2022
As the inflation crisis becomes evident to all Americans, the administration blames Putin. But inflation has been rising steadily since Biden’s inauguration, for reasons that are not in his control and for others that absolutely are.
“Today’s inflation report is a reminder that Americans’ budgets are being stretched by price increases, and families are starting to feel the impacts of Putin’s price hike,” Biden said.
The timeline
American inflation numbers rose to 7.9% before the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Before Putin invaded Ukraine, inflation was already a growing problem and will only worsen with Biden’s policies to end oil imports and trading with Russia.
2020 inflationOct: 1.2%Nov: 1.2%Dec: 1.4%
2021 inflationJan: 1.4%, Biden is inaugurated.Feb: 1.7%Mar: 2.6%, Biden signs a $1.9 trillion American rescue plan.Apr: 4.2%May: 5.0%Jun: 5.4%July: 5.4%Aug: 5.3%Sep: 5.4%, Biden orders a national vaccine mandate affecting 13 million jobs.Oct: 6.2%Nov: 6.8%, Biden put a mandate on truckers amidst domestic supply chain issues.Dec: 7.0%, Biden raised the national debt limit by $2.5 trillion.
2022 inflationJan: 7.5%Feb: 7.9%, Putin’s invasion begins in late February.March: numbers available April, Biden signs a $1.5 trillion spending bill.
Supply chain issues
The issue: Supply chain constraints have led to shortages, which ultimately cause price spikes and inflation.
Partisan blame: Those defending Biden blame the pandemic, lockdowns, and global constraints out of our control.
In reality: Biden’s policies–like his vaccine mandates on workers and truckers–kept Americans out of work, lengthened the labor shortage, and negatively impacted our domestic supply chain independent of global factors.
By estimates from The Washington Post, nearly 13 million Americans could have been left jobless because of the mandates, yet Biden continued with the detrimental policy as inflation levels hit 5.4%.
Money supply issues
The issue: The economics behind inflation can be reduced to too many dollars chasing too few goods. When dollars are injected into the economy, prices skyrocket. In the past two years, the supply of dollars increased by 40%.
Partisan blame: Those defending Biden blame Trump’s bipartisanly popular pandemic relief spending when inflation was not yet an issue.
In reality: Biden’s policies, on the other hand, exacerbated the already major problem and were passed when the inflation crisis was in full swing.
In March 2021, inflation was already 2.6% compared to Trump’s average of 1.2%. Biden then signed another $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package.
Despite inflation hitting 7.9%, Biden signed an excessive $1.5 trillion spending package a year later.
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