What should Biden do about inflation? Mostly sit tight - Jeffrey Frankel

November 18, 2021, Interview: "Many Americans were shocked by last month’s 6.2 percent leap in the consumer price index over last year’s figure, despite economists warnings for months that rising inflation was a normal and temporary byproduct of the recovering U.S. economy. Consumer demand is surging as COVID restrictions ease, they say, but products are in limited supply because of pandemic-driven difficulties getting goods manufactured and delivered. Still Americans are growing frustrated, and President Biden is facing dismal new approval numbers, ratcheting up fears among Democrats about what this might mean for next year’s midterm elections. But what can a president realistically do? The Gazette asked economist Jeffrey L. Frankel, James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth at Harvard Kennedy School, about what tools Biden has and how political expediency might affect the administration’s decision-making. The interview was edited for clarity and length."

HKS Author - Jeffrey Frankel