NC Wisconsin News

A growing majority of Americans, particularly across Wisconsin, are expressing displeasure with the performance of the Biden administration in light of the recent rise in prices due to inflation.

Lawrence Summers, a Harvard professor and former economic aide to President Barack Obama, was one of the first to predict a hike in inflation -- if Biden wasn’t careful with his economic policies. Now, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is reporting a 7.5% increase in prices in the past year, which has led to a further drop in Biden’s approval rating in Wisconsin and across the country.

"I’m not sure that we would have the inflation if there had never been a pandemic and, even if there had been a pandemic, without the overwhelming stimulus that was applied well into recovery — during 2021," Summers said in Feb. 4 tweet.

Summers, who served as Harvard’s president from 2001 through 2006, and later served as director of the National Economic Council, wrote a guest opinion column in The Washington Post in which he praised the ambition of Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, but argued that considerations must be made for the effect it could have on inflation and the future economy.

“While the arguments for providing relief to those hurt by the economic fallout of the pandemic, investing in controlling the virus and supporting consumer demand are compelling, much of the policy discussion has not fully reckoned with the magnitude of what is being debated,” Summers wrote in The Washington Post.

A national CNN poll showed that 58% of Americans disapproved of Biden’s job performance, while only 41% approved. In Wisconsin, the numbers vary slightly. A poll by Civiqs showed that Biden’s approval rating is a mere 37%, with 54% disapproving.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the 7.5% hike in inflation is the largest since the recession of 1982.

White House spokesperson Emilie Simons said Biden “is using every tool available to reduce prices.” Even if that is the case, economists believe there isn’t much Biden can do at this time to stop inflation.