Fmr. Obama Adviser Goolsbee: For Many Goods, ‘Inflation Began’ Before War, Those Increases Will ‘Be with Us for the Next Several Months’

On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Don Lemon Tonight,” Economics Professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Austan Goolsbee, who served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama said that, on the price of goods other than energy and gas, “inflation began before the Russians began massing troops.” And “the old inflations that are still in there and are going to be with us for the next several months are high. So, the overall is pretty high.”

Goolsbee stated, “I think, on energy, the president, — and gasoline, the president’s on pretty solid footing that the war in Ukraine and what’s happening in Russia has played a big role, and that’s certainly the most public of the prices. So, there, I don’t think he’s wrong. On other goods prices, you’re quite right that inflation began before the Russians began massing troops. We’re still in the fact that, in the U.S., when we measure inflation, the 8% number is looking backward over the last 12 months. So, 11 of the months we already knew. All that happens is we get one new month and we drop off one month from a year ago. And there are at least some hopeful signs in the number that came out that the new inflation that’s coming in is not quite as bad as what we expected and is kind of dropping. But the old inflations that are still in there and are going to be with us for the next several months are high. So, the overall is pretty high.”

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