Our country is facing record inflation thanks in large part to record corporate price gouging. Unfortunately, prominent trickle-down economists are full of the usual bad ideas to try to fix it.

In June, former Clinton administration Treasury Secretary Larry Summers gave a speech in London proclaiming that the U.S. needed unemployment to be above 5% for five years to contain inflation. In other words, his master plan to get the economy back on track is this: Force millions of Americans to lose their jobs and face at least one year of unemployment.

You’d think anyone in their right mind would reject an option that will cause so many Americans to suffer. But Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell agrees with Summers’ plan, explaining that the Fed will continue to raise interest rates for the foreseeable future – even though it will cause Americans to lose their jobs.

There are better ways to curb high prices – ones that don’t throw a wet blanket on the economy and cause middle-class Americans to struggle to pay rent, buy food, and survive. That’s why we’re starting a Tweet-storm to call out Larry Summers and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell: Will you use our pre-drafted Tweet now to speak out against the Fed’s plan?

This current wave of record inflation was caused by pandemic-inspired supply-chain issues and price-gouging corporations. Continuing to raise interest rates – and putting millions of Americans out of work – is unlikely to resolve either of those problems. In fact, slowing down the labor market and taking paychecks away from American families will likely turn out to be worse for the economy in the long run.

The truth is that Summers' and Powell's "solution" is trickle-down economics in its purest form: They're prepared to sacrifice the income of millions of Americans in order to prioritize the wealthiest people in the economy. In the long run, recessions are actually great for the richest Americans. In the years following the Great Recession of 2008, the wealthiest 1% of all Americans absorbed 95% of the total wealth generated by the economic recovery.

If Summers and Powell want to create a solution that reflects how the American economy really works, they'd encourage policies that prioritize the spending of average Americans, not the accrual of wealth at the very top of the income pyramid. Rather than actively trying to undercut our economy, leaders could do more to cap inflation by building a more robust supply chain, penalizing bad corporate actors for price gouging and profiteering at a time of crisis, and following the lead of the 18 states that are sending inflation stimulus checks in order to provide much-needed relief for ordinary Americans – the very people who power the economy in the first place.

That’s why we’re inviting you to join us in calling out Summers' and Powell’s disastrous, tired, old approaches. Tweet @federalreserve Chair Jerome Powell and @LHSummers to tell them that their plan to increase the unemployment rate is bad for Americans and bad for the economy. Follow this link to use our pre-drafted Tweet now. >>>

Thanks for joining this movement,

Paul
Team Civic Action

P.S. Don’t have Twitter? You can help us spread the news about the Fed’s disastrous plan by forwarding this email to a friend.