Economist Jeffrey Sachs: ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ ‘Isn’t about Inflation Reduction’ Does ‘Nothing Real’ about Current Inflation

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Columbia University Professor and economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs said that naming the reconciliation bill the “Inflation Reduction Act” is a “marketing tool” for a bill that “isn’t about inflation reduction.” And does “nothing real about our current inflationary challenges.”

Sachs said that while he would vote for the bill, naming it the Inflation Reduction Act is “completely” a “marketing tool.”

He continued, “That was a title that seemed to work better than Build Back Better. And so, they went with that. But the inflation we’re experiencing now is not addressed at all in this legislation. There are perhaps some cost containments down the road in a few years on some drug prices, which will be helpful. But basically, this isn’t about inflation reduction. That’s marketing because we have inflation. Where’s the inflation coming from? From the dislocations in the world economy and the Fed back in 2020 pumping up the money supply in response to the pandemic and the other dislocations. And now we have the war, the sanctions, we have the tensions with China. We’ve really ginned up a bit of a mess, and this legislation doesn’t address that at all. So, that’s just a title. It’s not really about inflation reduction. It may have some tiny effects down the road. But nothing real about our current inflationary challenges.”

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