COMMENT: President gets too much credit and blame for economy
When it comes to politics, we tend to have short memories, or convenient memories, or no memories at all.
As the 2024 presidential race moves into its final weeks, there have been numerous Republican posts on social media asking a single question: "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"
There follows a chart showing consumer prices from January 2020 and comparing them with today's prices, art designed to prove that the country has gone to hell under the Biden administration.
Does anyone remember January 2020? COVID was just a virus beginning to cause serious problems in Asia. No one had any idea of the havoc it would cause in America. It was not until March 2020 that the manure hit the fan.
Have Republicans forgotten those days? Have they forgotten the quarantines and the disruption in the supply chain that lasted nearly two years?
Have they forgotten that when goods became scarce, consumers — Republican or Democrat — were willing to pay anything to get the products they wanted or needed?
Do they remember when people were selling toilet paper out of the trunks of cars in a grocery store parking lot at twice the retail cost?
The president of the United States had nothing to do with this. It was capitalism doing its thing, the law of supply and demand. If you wanted it bad enough, you were willing to pay anything to get it.
Businesses figured this out in a hurry and raised prices — again and again. Some of those price increases were justified. Some resulted from just plain greed.
While the government did its best to curb the COVID-related inflation, it also helped fuel higher prices by handing out money it didn't have. Have we forgotten those $1,400 and $2,800 checks that Congress authorized to be mailed to families, that free money that was flowing like manna from heaven?
Consumers were not only willing to pay anything for what they wanted, now they had the money to do it. And businesses took full advantage of the situation.
It was not the president who caused prices to go up, but COVID and related supply issues combined with the demands of consumers determined to pay whatever the cost to get what they wanted.
The problem with inflation is that once prices go up, it is almost impossible to bring them down. Consumers may fuss at some point, but eventually they become accustomed to paying the higher prices. And higher consumer prices usually translate into bigger profit margins for big business, which leads to increases in stock prices, important for pension funds and IRAs.
Are we better off today than we were four years ago? You bet we are. We may be paying more at the grocery store and gas prices may be higher, but everybody is getting fat and the roads are crowded. And consumer spending hasn't missed a beat as any cruise ship company or airline will tell you.
No matter which party occupies the White House, we tend to blame the president for every economic problem that comes along. In truth, the president has very little control over our country's financial state. It is Congress that passes the budget and allocates spending, and it is the Federal Reserve Board that determines interest rates.
The president can suggest — at least to Congress, but it is your representatives and senators who hold the purse strings. Still, when it comes to election time, Americans blame it all on the person in the White House. Sometimes I think the whole country failed civics class in high school.
Not that I am a Democrat making a case for the Biden administration anymore than I was a Republican standing up for George W. Bush during the Great Recession of 2008. The banks, not the president, caused the latter and COVID was responsible for the former.
Another point here. Don't expect prices to fall back to January 2020 levels. Oh, maybe with home prices and gasoline, which always fluctuate, but not with food or other consumer items.
Lower interest rates, however, could make for lower monthly mortgage payments, but the Federal Reserve's recent interest rate reduction will not help renters.
Neither will the next president, whomever he or she may be. If the White House could control prices, we would be living in a monarchy.
Fortunately, we live in a democracy where capitalism rules the roost — even when something like COVID comes along.
Donnie Johnston's columns appear twice per week on the Opinion page. Reach him at .
