Here’s Where Americans Are Feeling The Greatest Pain Under Biden’s Economy
CEI’s Ryan Young cited in the Daily Caller on economic conditions:
“When some goods are hurt worse than others, the causes are not inflation,” Ryan Young, senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told the DCNF. “Higher-than-inflation housing and health care costs are due to regulations and supply chain problems — or at least the higher-than-inflation parts are.”
Health care costs are being ratcheted up due to rising premiums, which increased 7% just this year as of October, increasing 22% over the last five years. In an effort to bring down prices, the Biden administration announced in August that it would be forcing negotiations on ten major drugs.
The Biden administration has outpaced the previous three administrations in terms of issuing significant regulations, calculated by those that have at least a $100 million economic impact, completing 89 by the end of 2022. The total added costs due to regulations on the economy are estimated to be $1.939 trillion.
Biden has made combating climate change a key part of his policy objectives, instituting and proposing a slew of environmental regulations that, if all approved, would ultimately add $9,166 in new costs for average Americans per home. Many of the regulations are targeted at ordinary household items like appliances, particularly gas furnaces, water heaters, air conditioners and more, in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions.
“The Fed is now keeping the money supply stable, which is why inflation is now under 4% instead of above 9%,” Young told the DCNF. “Raising interest rates has been part of that. The trouble is that has also raised rates on mortgages, car loans, small business loans and eaten away at people’s retirement savings and college funds. The trouble with inflation is that it hits everything.”
The average monthly payment for a car loan has increased from $617 in the third quarter of 2021 to $726 per month two years later, according to Experian. The combination of price increases and rising rates has led to an estimated half of Americans being priced out of the car market completely.
As a result of rising prices, Americans are spending through their savings, only holding a collective $768.6 billion in October. Comparatively, Americans held over $1 trillion in savings in May and nearly $6 trillion in April 2020.
“Long story short, inflation hits everything equally,” Young told the DCNF. “It’s a universal regressive tax. It hurts low-income families more because they have less room in their budgets to spare. Low-income families are also less likely to have interest-earning investments to help offset inflation.”
Read the full article on the Daily Caller.