On the front page of last Sunday’s Columbian, I read an Associated Press article subtitled, “69% disapprove of how President Biden is handling the economy.” How disturbing to think that many people believe that the president can steer the economy around like pushing the tiller on a small fishing boat. I am not offering up an apology for the current administration.
Inflation is at the forefront, and an acquaintance asserted that the government money giveaway during the pandemic was the simple cause. That cause crumbles a bit when we look at other developed countries also dealing with high inflation and crumbles further when wrapping in high consumer demand, empty supply chains and Russia’s impact on markets.
So how does the president fix the economy? Well, the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates, but that agency operates independently of the president. The president has little leverage on the economy, and any proposed actions often require support of Congress. If the president were truly empowered to fix the economy, we may very well be in a socialist economy, not a free-market economy, and there would be great wailing and gnashing of teeth.
