Runaway Inflation Surges to a 40-Year High

The consumer-price index, which measures what families pay for goods and services, rose 7.5 percent year over year in January. That is the fastest rate of increase since February 1982 and above expectations. For eight months in a row, inflation has remained above five percent. Month over month, inflation also beat estimates of .4 percent, rising .6 percent.

Fox News: The consumer price index rose 7.5% in January from a year ago, according to a new Labor Department report released Thursday, marking the fastest increase since February 1982, when inflation hit 7.6%. The CPI – which measures a bevy of goods ranging from gasoline and health care to groceries and rents – jumped 0.6% in the one-month period from December. . .

The inflation spike has been bad news for President Biden, who has seen his approval rating tumble as consumer prices rise. The White House has blamed the price spike on supply-chain bottlenecks and other pandemic-induced disruptions in the economy, while Republicans have pinned it on the president’s massive spending agenda and his energy policies targeting the oil and gas industries.

Inflation remains elevated despite Democrats claiming for months that it would be transitory. Illinois Democrat Sean Casten said inflation would be “passing, transitory, and manageable,” and New Hampshire Democrat Jean Shaheen said Republicans were trying to “scare people”.

Michigan Republican Rep. Peter Meijer pointed out that conservatives had been warning about skyrocketing inflation for almost a full year. When Joe Biden called inflation “transitory” last March, Meijer warned the administration about “long term negative fallout”.

11 months ago, shortly before Biden dismissed the initial inflationary shock as ‘transitory.’ https://t.co/hZULHGCBgw pic.twitter.com/odQH91wxUh

— Rep. Peter Meijer (@RepMeijer) February 10, 2022

Bottom Line: Despite warnings from Republicans, Democrats in Congress and the Biden-Harris administration pushed reckless economic policies that sent inflation skyrocketing. Now, inflation is pushing real wages down and hurting small businesses.