Yellen: ‘Don’t Want to Say’ ‘Prices Will Go Down,’ We’ll Get to ‘Normal’ Inflation Rate

On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen responded to an analysis by Moody’s on how much American households are spending due to inflation and a question on whether prices will drop by stating that “I don’t want to say that the level of prices will go down, but I think inflation will subside to rates that are quite normal and within the range that the Fed is seeking to target.”

Host Erin Burnett noted that the rate of inflation has dropped, “but the direction is still a green arrow, right? According to Moody’s, the typical household spent $202 more last month on the same goods and services than it did a year ago, $709 more than two years ago. So, the rate of inflation has plunged, but prices are still going up, and these are huge numbers for American families, it’s a real hardship. What do you say to those families? Can you tell them that prices will actually go down?”

Yellen answered, “So, I don’t want to say that the level of prices will go down, but I think inflation will subside to rates that are quite normal and within the range that the Fed is seeking to target. President Biden has worked with Congress and within the administration to do what we can to lower prices and give Americans relief. The Inflation Reduction Act had many features to do that, including cuts in health insurance premiums, in drug prices, the cost of insulin was capped at $35 a month. And we’re working — oil releases last year from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, I think made a big difference to the gas prices people had to pay, but inflation remains a problem that we’re focused on.”

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