Democrat Rep. Sean Casten: Inflation is a ‘Good Thing’

Democrat Rep. Sean Casten (IL), during a town hall in Palatine, Illinois, said that “a little bit of inflation” is a “good thing” while inflation is surging and prices are rising around the country.

Casten asserted that every economist he has talked to, including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, believes inflation is “manageable.” He added that generally, economists are saying that inflation is a good thing.

“There’s also, frankly, I think there’s a general consensus among economists that a little bit of inflation would actually be a good thing,” Casten said. “Because the Federal Reserve has a mandate to keep interest rates manageable but non-zero and inflation manageable but not excessive.”

Casten was touting that the Fed, since 2008, “cut interest rates” many times, and the “Fed has a whole lot of very unconventional ammunition,” but they need to wait for inflation to rise in order to help.

He added that inflation is good if you get a raise but bad if you can not afford a vacation, claiming “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.”

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However, inflation has been rising more than expected in recent months. At the end of last month, Commerce Department data showed that a key measure of inflation reached a 30-year high last month.

The majority of vulnerable Democrats have been shying away from talking about inflation. Despite what Casten says, Powell, talking about inflation, said, “As the reopening continues, other constraints could continue to limit how quickly supply can adjust, raising the possibility that inflation could turn out to be higher and more persistent than we expect.”

“We think that some of it will fall away naturally as the process of reopening the economy moves through. It could take some time,” Powell added. “If inflation expectations were to move up, we would use our tools to guide inflation back down to two percent.”

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Berg told Fox News in a statement, “It is bizarre to hear Sean Casten praise the fact that Americans are paying higher prices for everyday goods and services. … House Democrats are completely out of touch with middle-class Americans.”