Biden's "Putin Price Hikes" Ploy

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• As inflation soared to a 40-year high in February, President Biden claimed the year-long price hikes hitting Americans’ wallets are “largely the fault of Putin.”
• The president is trying to deflect blame for inflation, which has been climbing steadily since he took office. Inflation has averaged 5.4% in that time, compared to an average of 1.6% from 2012-2020.
• Prices have jumped since last year on almost everything, with Americans paying more for groceries, gas, furniture, appliances, and services.

Inflation soared to a 40-year high in February, climbing 7.9% from a year ago. Prices spiked 0.8% from January to February alone. Desperate to deflect the blame away from Democrats’ disastrous policies, President Joe Biden is trying a new approach. On March 11 he declared: “Make no mistake, inflation is largely the fault of Putin.” This is a dishonest, cynical ploy to use Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked attacks on Ukraine as a domestic political distraction.  

Bidenflation Started Before Putin’s Invasion

bidenflation started before putin’s invasion

The president made his comments after the Labor Department released official inflation numbers for February. Those high numbers were hardly an anomaly. President Biden has presided over steadily accelerating inflation since he took office, fueled by Democrats’ $2 trillion “COVID relief” law. Inflation has averaged 5.4% during the Biden administration, a sharp increase over the 1.6% average from 2012-2020.

The figures for February also largely precede any new price pressure from Putin’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine. Liberal economist Steven Rattner dismissed the president’s absurd characterization on Twitter: “Well, no. These are Feb #’s and only include small Russia effect. This is Biden’s inflation and he needs to own it.”

Bidenflation’S BROAD PATH OF DESTRUCTION

Instead, the president said February’s eye-popping inflation number was “a reminder that Americans’ budgets are being stretched by price increases and families are starting to feel the impacts of Putin’s price hike.” While some of the increase in gas prices since February 24 is certainly due to the invasion, gasoline prices in the week that ended February 21 were already 48% higher than they were just before President Biden was inaugurated. The breadth of inflation across categories also undermines this narrative from the White House.

Prices Are Up across the Board

In February, grocery prices were up 8.6% from one year earlier. The cost of living room furniture is up 19.3%, so a family buying a new sofa will have to pay nearly $900 for one that cost about $750 a year ago. Getting a new major appliance like a dishwasher is a budget headache, with prices up 11.1%. New tires for a car could cost $620, compared to about $540 last year – 15.4% more.

Parents have to find more money for things their kids need. Baby food prices have increased 8.4%, and a few sets of baby clothes that would have cost $44 a year ago would be $50 now, up 12.4%. Someone trying to avoid the pain at the pump might buy a nice bicycle to use for some errands and end up paying 8.1% more than last year: $725 now versus $671 then.

Bidenflation is disrupting other areas of the household budget as well. Prices for haircuts and similar personal care services were 5.6% higher in February than one year earlier. Getting help with preparing a tax return is also a lot more expensive, with prices for this and other accounting fees up 9.8%.

The higher costs add up, and they are eroding workers’ paychecks. The Labor Department reported that, after adjusting for inflation, average hourly earnings were down 1.9% for workers in production and nonsupervisory roles in February from one year earlier. Inflation-adjusted average hourly earnings for all workers decreased 2.6% over this period. 

Blaming Vladimir Putin for higher prices in all of these areas isn’t credible, and Americans know it. The president is correct to prepare Americans for the costs we will have to bear to isolate Russia from the western economy. But this will come on top of the high inflation base the Biden administration’s reckless spending, regulation, and liberal policies have been building for more than a year. Our response to Putin’s aggression is likely to exacerbate high inflation, but it is disingenuous to suggest it’s the cause.