President Joe Biden is setting historical records, but not in good ways. After 18 months in office, the Biden administration has presided over more inflation than any other elected president since 1948, which is when the Bureau of Labor Statistics began keeping track.
Currently, since data has come out from the month of June, U.S. inflation is sitting at 9.1 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
National Review broke down the statistics to show the change in overall consumer price index during the first 18 months of each president’s tenure since 1948.
With an 8.4 percent average, Biden comes in first place as an elected president residing over some of the highest inflation rates the U.S. has seen.
Former President Gerald Ford is the one exception to Biden’s historical record, but since he was not elected as president he is an outlier in the data.
It’s no secret that the current inflation rates have been breaking records.
Even before the hike up to 9.1 percent, inflation hit a 41-year high in March with 8.4 percent inflation, the Economic Times reported.
The Biden administration cannot be wholly blamed for the soaring inflation since there are many factors that have contributed to the ailing economy and not all of them started during this administration, National Review noted.
The pandemic is what kicked it all off, but other factors like the war in Ukraine and population decline have also contributed.
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But even if the administration is not at fault for the initial causes of inflation, the president has not remedied the situation.
“Even if it is not responsible for the entirety of its rise, the Biden administration is unwittingly drafting a case study in how a White House’s policies can make inflation worse. Biden entered office as a pandemic was constraining the supply side of the economy, and his policies then exacerbated the supply-side constraints,” National Review reported.
“His energy policies increased the price of fuel. His broader raft of new regulations undermines business investment broadly. If enacted, his proposed tax hikes would decrease work and business investment, constraining supply even more,” it continued.
However, Biden has argued continually that his policies have helped the American economy and that inflation is not as bad as it may seem.
In May Biden said, “I think our policies help, not hurt,” during a White House speech.
He then cited that under his administration millions of jobs have been created.
On July 13, Biden also noted that though inflation had risen yet again, at least the prices of gas had decreased a bit, the Washington Post reported.
But according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report from June, it showed that the index for gasoline rose 11.2 percent.
Overall, the consumer price indexes for essentials rose again in June.
The energy index rose 7.5 percent. The food index rose 1 percent.
Overall, no matter how Biden tries to angle it, the inflation that continues to rise and break records, makes him the most inflationary elected president of the past 72 years.
