And what’s actually causing this inflation? There’s one obvious culprit: Corporate greed.
As Dion Rabouin, reporting for the conservative paper, the Wall Street Journal, said recently:
“Nearly 100 of the biggest U.S. publicly traded companies booked 2021 profit margins that were at least 50 percent higher than their 2019 levels.”
Corporate bosses have been bragging for months about their windfall profits on the backs of an overworked, shrinking labor force and regular folks trying to buy the basics they need to survive.
But corporate price gouging (while substantial, and criminal) isn’t the only factor here. COVID-19 was a once-in-a-century, unique economic shock that shut down the entire global supply chain.
Factories shut down. Trucks stopped moving. And even though we’ve tried to get back to normal, we still haven’t recovered.
Manufacturers are struggling with labor shortages and logistics bottlenecks have slowed down the movement of goods.
So what do we do about it?
Congress and the Biden Administration COULD invoke the full force of the Defense Production Act to manufacture key goods, then mobilize the considerable infrastructure of the U.S. military to get the supply chain back to pre-pandemic capacity.
Congress could also levy a windfall tax to punish corporate profiteers and get that money back into the hands of working people where it will provide relief and stimulate economic activity.
What are they doing instead? Leaning on the Federal Reserve to jack up interest rates – making your mortgage and your credit card bills higher in the process.
When you meet locked up supply lines with higher interest rates, you take an already inflated economy and stagnate it.
Progressive economists call that “stagflation,” and that’s where we’re headed if Congress and the Biden administration don't get their act together.
We are headed for a disaster. Instead of punishing corporate profiteers and fixing our broken supply chain, we’re increasing pressure on regular people with credit card debt, mortgages, and rent.
The fundamental problem we’re facing right now is one of outdated thinking. Our political leaders are simply doing what they’ve always done, because it hasn’t occurred to them to try anything different.
Tweaking interest rates is also the least disruptive to corporate profits – and that’s who they answer to.
We’re doing something radically different at Brand New Congress. We work year-round to elect working class progressives who come with different lived experiences and bring very different solutions to the table.
Just weeks ago, BNC’s Cori Bush worked with the White House to use the Defense Production Act to secure $105 million in clean energy funding.
If Congress is going to keep ramming through bloated defense budgets (like the $839 BILLION NDAA the House JUST passed), let’s use that budget to rebuild our economy – and the world’s economy – rather than waging more war.
If you agree we need more working class progressives in Congress fighting for progressive priorities, invest in our work with a contribution of $25, $50, or even $100 today. |
