In the aftermath of the White House demanding that media pundits put a positive spin on economic news, the National Economic Council Chairman, Brian Deese, appears at the Brady Room podium today [Full Video Here] to put the finishing touches on their Potemkin village of economics.
The statistics cited by Deese were jaw dropping in the level of spin used to create them. First, the economic council cite their own national employment forecasts for economic recovery (under their ‘American Rescue Plan’), then celebrate they are ahead of schedule for a timeline they created.
When asked about inflation, Deese then proclaims he is not going to get into the business of economic predictions; which the media just accept without reminding him that his economic policies are entirely based on his own predictions… which he just cited in the prior moment of self-congratulation. Additionally, according to Deese (without any citation to demonstrate validity for his claim), the NEC Chairman says “real household income” is at its pre-pandemic level; which seems highly unlikely given the scale of inflation.
When asked if inflation will continue into next year, Deese refused to answer the question. Keep in mind, the discussion of inflation is a percentage of change from a previous price 12 months earlier. If an item doubles in price this year (from $2 to $4), and then goes up to $4.50 in the following year, you can claim that inflation is dramatically decreasing. However, that does not mean prices will ever return to the prior level, or that the next year price is any more affordable. WATCH:
The fact remains that White House energy, regulatory, fiscal and monetary policies are devastating for Main Street. All of those policies impact the domestic economy with increased costs from field to fork.
Cumulatively, all of the White House economic policies are increasing housing costs, transportation costs, medical costs, food costs, retail costs and service costs. At the same time, wages are only modestly rising to keep up with those massive cost increases. No amount of spin is going to stop the reality of the inflation storm from hitting U.S. consumers.
As we shared during the Obama-era baseline budget spending and deficit mess: “Half of something you just quadrupled is not less than you started with.”
Here’s the full press conference:
Bottom line: The inflation number due today is again likely to show the aggregate level of compounded inflation in the supply chain. This is what the White House is trying to distract from.
