On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” Biden Senior Adviser Gene Sperling responded to questions on when the Inflation Reduction Act is going to work and people will feel real relief on inflation by stating that while there are some provisions of the act that kick in over the next few months, “the overall issue on inflation has to do with much larger forces.” And that “people have felt relief at the gas pump already” and “we think we’re moving in the right direction” on other areas.
Host Martha MacCallum asked, “So, give us a sense, if all of — if this Inflation Reduction Act is going to eventually work, you’re saying, when. What is the timeline, as you look at this, as an economist?”
Sperling responded, “Well, the Inflation Reduction Act was a series of policies, which I’ve discussed. And some of them will hit in the next few months, like capping the cost of insulin at $35, like not allowing prescription drugs to be reimbursed for Medicare at above inflation. All of those things will happen shortly. But obviously, the overall issue on inflation has to do with much larger forces. Now, inflation has come down from 9.1% to 8.5% to 8.3%, but that’s not good enough for anybody. It is still too high. And I think markets were disappointed, and we were disappointed in some of the core inflation numbers. But, I [do] feel more optimistic that there are some positive signs.”
MacCallum then asked, “[W]hen do you expect people to feel some genuine relief from that chart that we just showed, five months, six months, two years, three years?”
Sperling responded, “Well, let me just say, people have felt relief at the gas pump already. It’s down over $1.30 a gallon. You’re under $3.70 on average. The typical gas station is now charging about $3.39. So, I think people are seeing some relief there. I think where they’re not seeing the relief we’d like to is particularly in food prices. And we think we’re moving in the right direction. But we understand everyone wants to move quicker. Everyone wants to bring prices down. And, as you know, our goal is to do that in a way that doesn’t give up these historic job gains, the greatest job growth in our history, 3.7% unemployment. So, the goal is to transition to those lower prices without giving up the gains in the labor market.”
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