The empty grocery shelves.
The continually climbing gas prices.
The high cost of Thanksgiving dinner this year—if you can get a Turkey.
The local restaurant closed on Monday and Tuesday when it used to operate seven days a week because of the inability to find workers.
And the worry by parents that the holiday gifts their child wants is stuck in some supply chain bottleneck.
All of these add up to the ultimate kitchen table issue: inflation that tightens your pocketbook and slows down the economy.
Inflation, in political terms, is more often a crisis of feeling and actions—the country is going in the wrong direction, deciding to hold off on a purchase, the dread of having to dip into savings to pay the bills
We have heard time and time again during the pandemic that we should listen to the medical experts when it comes to masks and vaccine mandates.
Well, it’s time to listen to the business experts and economists when it comes to our financial picture. What we hear is not a pretty sight and it’s time for politicians, starting at the top, to deliver the unvarnished truth.
The bottleneck at our ports is not going away anytime soon—the backup off the coast is still over 100 ships and there are more waiting beyond that according to industry leaders. The trucking shortage is still slowing down inventory getting to stores and warehouses. Workers wages are rising as a result of a tighter labor market. All of these costs are being passed on to the consumer.
Any benefits of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill promised to address inflation will not be able to make all the problems with the supply chain across all industries go away by the time the holiday season arrives.
President Joe Biden needs to make how to deal with inflation a top priority, even pushing aside COVID issues. The President should start by addressing the nation to give us shareholders a report on where we are and provide a comprehensive economic plan. Republicans, who are playing politics with the issue as part of their plan to regain Congress, must come to the table in good faith to work on solutions.
This is an issue that can no longer be put on the back burner. It must be front and center of both party’s agendas.
Americans have a growing feeling of helplessness due to concerns about inflation. At a time when the end of the restrictive coronavirus pandemic rules are in sight, all of us are uneasy as we sit around the kitchen table doing our monthly bills.
President Biden was elected in part to be a steady hand during times of crisis. In our view, this will be the defining issue of his presidency. We are on the verge of a full blown economic recession if the problems surrounding inflation are not dealt with immediately. The time has come for the President to use the full weight and focus of his office to curtail this potentially crippling issue to the country.
This editorial verges on hysteria. Inflation is a worldwide problem, not an American one unless you want to blame Biden for Britain’s record inflation and no doubt Repuklicans will blame Biden for all of the world’s ills. Oil and gas prices are set in an international market no president can control. Funny how Republicans are all in in capitalism until they play politics and don’t like supply and demand! The pandemic has changed attitudes on how and why people work at certain jobs. Americans have not picked our crops for years. We import people to do it. Face it: we need more LEGAL immigration right now to fill jobs. When I see who cuts the lawns, does the construction and roofing and stonemason work in my neighborhood it’s all South of the border folks: hard working, and friendly. Biden is a steady hand. The supply chain issue will work itself out especially now that there’s money to upgrade ports. We’ve created millions of jobs, demand for goods is high, supplies have suffered for a dozen reasons. Equilibrium will be reached. Calm down. If this is as tough as it gets after 750,000 Americans have died of Covid, we survivors have plenty to be thankful for. We don’t need your hysteria right now.
When 750,000 Americans die, and millions more have become long-term disabled from COVID, there are bound to be supply chain issues — think of how many truckers, ship workers, factory workers, etc. have died or become disabled. And maybe there is a shortage of workers because 1. it’s not safe to work in person, and 2. because many lower level workers have died or become disabled.
As @Michael Fremer notes above, demand for goods has spiked as fewer people consume services, and more look to furnish their homes with durable goods, thereby further challenging the supply and increasing inflation.
Gas prices have nothing to do with this, except in so far as Opec production was reduced due to decreased pandemic demand, and now that things are opening up, demand is up, but production hasn’t fully returned. The US can and should open up the strategic reserves to blunt the effect of Opec supply lines.
How come there is no byline?
This Op-Ed was a very uniformed discussion of the current inflationary surge, bordering on uneducated panic. Many of the factors are clearly transitory – the price of oil has fluctuated between $30 and $80 per barrel for the last decade.
The Op-Ed ignores the primary cost to most businesses, which is of course the cost of labor.
For years, major corporations have been paying workers less than a living wage. Now, many employers are being forced to pay a living wage, $15.00 an hour to start. Combine that with a shortage of entry level workers, blame the flawed immigration policy of the last administration for this.
If you do not want immigration labor, then you must be willing to pay more, if not as twice as much, for your fruit and vegetables, [mostly picked by immigrants], your milk [most large dairies are manned by immigrants], your meat and poultry [most of the large meat producers employ immigrants exclusively,] your construction workers, your wait staff, the workers at Home Depot, Walmart, McDonalds and every other major corporation. These cost are directly passed on to you.
It appears that the people who blame Biden the loudest for inflation are the people who complaint the most abut immigration. Perhaps it would be more useful to read some books rather than burn them.
Just saying.
Whoever wrote this is not an economist and clearly has no idea why the shortages have occurred. Maybe NorthJersey news people can read Paul Krugman for an intelligent assessment of the situation.
I live in South Orange and most of the shelves are reasonably well stocked.
Covid and the ‘former guy’ are mostly responsible for this ‘inflation’ and it will probably level off in the next 6 months because we have a truly competent Secretary of the Treasury , Janet Yellen, and others to monitor the situation.
Inflation is CAUSED by expansion of the money supply . Inflation IS expansion of the money. The federal government of the USA is directly 100 percent responsible for the expansion and ALL the inflation. BOTH parties are at fault. BOTH parties have played hyperpartisan politics with the issue: the only way to solve the problem is to cut taxes and reduce spending by at least one trillion dollars RIGHT now. All these spending bills are just MORE inflation. Biden cant fix it. There is nothing he can do except get out of the way and cut the size of government. If they dont stop we will be completely impoverished: there will be hyperinflation like in Germany in 1922
Did idiot howardfredric miss the fact that in his first day in office Biden killed the Keystone pipeline and gas prices went up immediately??? We were energy independent up until the very first day Biden got into office. He probably doesn’t remember it though.
Keystone pipeline wasn’t pumping anything at the time. Therefore, there was zero impact on the supply, and likewise, no impact on prices from Biden’s pipeline policy. Are you familiar with the difference between correlation and causation?
Cutting taxes (under the Orange Menace) is what put us in the hole we’re in now, which is why taxes must now be increased. Deficits ballooned under the Menace and that is what caused the inflation.
Demand does not cause inflation. Inflation is expansion of the money supply. The government is pumping trillions of dollars into the economy in an attempt to buy votes and supposedly fix things. This will not and has not ever worked. There are too many dollars chasing too few goods. The only solution is to cut back on the size and scope of government . The federal reserve system and US treasury is 100 percent of blame . This has NOTHING do to with consumers or spending. The federal reserve has to immediately stop monetizing us debt and raise interest rates
The Inflationary problems that we face right now I have nothing to do with Covid. Most of the people who died from Covid were older people who don’t even work anyway. 60% of the deaths were in people over 65. Covid is simply not that dangerous to Young otherwise healthy people. The reason why there is a shortage of workers it’s because millions of people are disgusted by vaccine mandates. Whoever wants this vaccine can get it to protect themselves and everybody else should just be left alone. Because the vaccine does not stop the spread or transmission or infection it only protects the person receiving the vaccine. And it turns out that the protection wanes after about 200 days. These so-called supply chain problems or not supply chain problems at all. They are the result of inflation that is 100% caused by the United States government creating too much money and credit.
Republicans play hyper-partisan politics. When Democrats respond in turn with similar “weapons,” Democrats get accused of playing hyper-partisan politics like they invented it, but they didn’t. That noise is mostly coming from the right. President Biden has tried to achieve bipartisanship and had only minimal success because of grandstanding on the right. If Republicans would like to participate in government, they would be welcome. So far, however, on the national scene oh, there seems to be no such movement. How sad for this country to have one political party and one hyper-partisan Idol worshiping mob.
Inflation is not a scary word, just a word to describe a economy condition.
It is not like Covid-19 .
It is a condition that at times is beneficial and sometimes a problem.
Let’s get ducks in row before we declare the SKY is falling
First exam the last 100 years. Has there been a epidemic (world wide) with millions dying.
Many parts of the world where we get all our electronic gear is still battling it, and they’re are not back to work. Manufacturing countries need a great deal of preparation to get back in to production . POINT ONE Without those chips from Malaysia there won’t be many new cars and then there will be bidding on them giving you INFLATION .The USA is giving away the VACINE to help get the world back to work . Pushing a string is ineffective until we get the world working we are in for inflation.
The administration is working with the other industrial countries to get the maritime backlog reduced we are opening up more ports and relaxing rules for Drivers, shipping companies and every other cog in the gears of transportation
Wringing your hands sand calling for who ever is in power to JUST FIX IT is not helping solve the problem. Admitting that it is a supply problem, is the. Start of correcting inlaftion.
Keep in mind without inflation there are no raises, no one would ever leave a job if it was not to there advantage ’raise’ in most cases.
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Time for Republicans in Congress to tell the truth about The Big Lie (of the “stolen” election).
The money supply is controlled by a Republican, Jerome Powell, chairman of the federal reserve. Perhaps it’s time for President Biden to get rid of him an nominate a Democrat, like Lael Brainard. Powell, on the other hand, has kept interest rates low in order to stimulate the economy, which has resulted in inflation.
The Keystone Pipeline was not providing any fuel for the U.S. market. It was proposed so Canada could export its oil to the international market. It had nothing to do with U.S. production or energy independence. Gas prices are up because of OPEC. Production was decreased as a result of lower consumption during the pandemic. Demand has increased faster than production. This is worldwide.
we can no longer have politicians dictate the way of life for their own citizens for their own financial gain
Where are you shopping that grocery store shelves are empty? Where are you shopping that the freezer case isn’t full of frozen turkeys? Where have you been the past fifty years where gasoline prices don’t follow the international price of oil, and by the way, the prices have leveled off. Why is it a surprise that workers refuse to take low wage high customer facing jobs, when the US has the lowest vaccination rate in the developed world. Undoubtedly there are problems, there always are, but opinion pieces like this that verge on hysteria don’t help anyone.
whoever wrote it should be too ashamed to identify his or her self and clearly was. The Zacherle monster movie guy was a friend of mine!
Wow Davef, cause and effect is not your strong suit. The Canadian tar sands not yet being pumped was headed for the Gulf where it would be loaded onto boats bound for China. It was a FOREIGN OPERATION bisecting America for the benefit of others. This would have had ZERO effect on gasoline prices and the number of jobs it had produced wa miniscule. It was a bad deal for America.
Inflation is caused by many factors in addition to the money supply. Inflation is at record high in Britain and guess what? The Federal Reserve, Joe Biden and whoever else you blame had zilch to do with it.
back on your meds and then stop watching Fox News. You sound like a fool
And…it looks like Pres. Biden is going to open up the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, as I suggested:
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/us-elections-government/ny-biden-expected-to-release-oil-from-strategic-petroleum-reserve-20211122-l4ruamcauvgcdm4x7agzjxugaa-story.html
Not for’n Nothing ; But the majority’s of people’s don’t need a Poll to tell them when things are hurting them, when things are tough & getting tougher!! AND; This is when the Tough Get up rite on 0ut 0f there!!//