Consumer Prices & Inflation continue to outpace personal incomes
By Robert Romano
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Texas Insider Report) — To mitigate some of the damage that's been caused by inflation among Black Voters the past few years – with 94% of black voters saying inflation and prices are important, including 77% who say it's "very important" – Vice President Kamala Harris on April 29th began a multi-state Economic Opportunity Tour in Atlanta, Georgia. The tour is directed at shoring up black voters in swing states who will be essential to President Joe Biden’s bid to be reelected in November.
When asked if they approved of Biden’s handling of inflation, only 57% of blacks said they did, with a whopping 35% disapproving – and also quite importantly, some 21% said it was the most important issue, more than any other group.
That’s a catastrophe for Biden.
In Nov. 2020, in the last Economist-YouGov poll taken before that election, then-candidate Joe Biden was viewed "very favorably" by 50% black voters, and "somewhat favorably" by 28% – a total of 78%.
Only 10% of blacks felt "somewhat unfavorable" to Biden and 8% "strongly unfavorable."
In contrast, in the latest Economist-YouGov poll taken in March, Biden’s approval among black voters has dropped significantly, to 66%:
- with only 28% "strongly approving" and
- 38% "somewhat approving."
- The "disapproval" rate stands at a whopping 28%,
- with 10% "somewhat disapproving"
- and 19% "strongly disapproving."
That’s a dramatic, marked change – so Harris, who is half black, is being called in to at least attempt to shore up black voters in swing states.
Harris’ presentation in Atlanta was designed to play to the perceived strengths of the U.S. economy, including the low (but rising) unemployment rate, but failed to address the extremely high cost of living that is impacting households across the nation, including black households, thanks to the sticky consumer inflation that continues to outpace personal incomes.
Since Feb. 2021, consumer prices are up 18.5%, but personal income is still only up 17.6%, according to data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Americans have not gotten ahead in the current economy.
And Harris largely ignored the issue in her open salvo on the "Economic Opportunity Tour."
In fact, the only mention of inflation per se was Harris’ passing mention of the so-called "Inflation Reduction Act" – but not to tout the inflation rate. Instead the passing reference was to discuss subsidies and government spending from the legislation, saying, “what we are doing with the inflation reduction act which is about at least a trillion dollars invested in the climate but a clean energy economy…”
Harris added,
“One of the compelling reasons for me to start this tour now and to ask all the leaders here for help in getting the word out about what is available to entrepreneurs and small businesses is because we are in the process of putting a lot of money in the streets of America for this growth.”
The irony of this is that government spending has largely been one of the greatest inflation drivers during this economic cycle, wherein almost $7 trillion was spent, borrowed and printed into existence in response to the Covid pandemic and its aftermath, in 2020 and in 2021 when Biden began office with another stimulus and even more spending with the "Inflation Reduction Act."
Historically, large increases in the M2 money supply have preceded spikes in inflation, and 2021 and 2022 were no different.
And so, yes, Harris is technically correct, “we are in the process of putting a lot of money in the streets of America…”
But, that’s exactly how we got into this mess.
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government Foundation. Contact him at robert@getliberty.org.
