Unlike Treasury Secretary, White House Won’t Admit They Were Wrong About Inflation
(CNSNews.com) – Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen admitted Tuesday that she was wrong “about the path that inflation would take” when she predicted last year that it would be temporary or transitory, but the White House has not followed Yellen’s lead, opting instead to tout President Biden’s economic plan, which it said is working.
“When are you guys going to admit that you were wrong about inflation?” Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy asked Wednesday.
“No easy questions today, huh?” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
DOOCY: The Treasury Secretary says that she was wrong, so why doesn’t anybody here at the White House?
JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. Okay. So, look, what — what the Secretary was pointing out — this was talking about yesterday, when she was doing her hit with — her TV hit with CNN — is that there have been shocks to the economy that have exacerbated inflationary pressures, which couldn’t have been foreseen 18 months ago, including —
DOOCY: Why not?
JEAN-PIERRE: Well, let me — I’m — I’m trying to answer your question.
DOOCY: It’s a big problem.
JEAN-PIERRE: I — I — hold on. I was just getting to the “Why not?” Including Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine, multiple successive variants of COVID, and lockdowns in China. As she also noted during that interview, there has been historic growth and record job creation, and our goal is now to transition to steady and stable growth as inflation is brought down, as Brian Deese said yesterday to all of you when he was standing behind this podium.
So, the president’s economic plan, as we see it, is working. Just today, we learned that the manufacturing was up in May, building on the 545,000 manufacturing jobs that have been created since he took office — further proof that companies are investing in America, we are on a path to stable growth, and we are addressing supply chain problems.
Our plan to tackle inflation, lower costs reduces the deficit and respects the FDA’s [Fed’s] independence. It’s the best way for us to achieve sustainable and durable economic growth. So that’s how we’re — we’re doing — what — the work that we’re doing every day to make sure that we (inaudible) lower costs — well, higher costs.
DOOCY: And just so that I under- — just that I understand: The Treasury Secretary says that she was wrong, but the White House was not wrong about inflation.
JEAN-PIERRE: So here’s the thing: We have — we have achieved a — first of all, I explained to you what she was trying to say. So, I just laid that out. So those are your words, not my words. I just laid out what she was trying to say and try to explain in full- — in fullness her part and her answer.
We have achieved an historic recovery through an extraordinarily unprecedented economic moment. The president has consistently noted that the primary drivers of inflation are the pandemic and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The twists and turns of both these monumental events have affected energy prices and also food prices that we have seen these past several months. This is Putin’s price hike, which the President refers to, and that is what Secretary Yellen was referring to if you — if you read the entire transcript, and that’s what I’m — I’m trying to say to you, hopefully. Hopefully that lands.
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