US inflation is scorching hot, and a number of analysts and economists are predicting America will face more economic problems as politicians and the Biden administration blame corporations. This prospect of rising inflation has led financial writers like Isabella Weber to believe that price controls could ease America’s economic pressures.
The Biden government blames inflation on corporate greed and monopoly behavior
America is grappling with the worst inflation in over four decades, and the White House believes that tougher anti-monopoly policies could fix the situation. In addition, some convention leaders want to stifle online e-commerce giants like Amazon with proposals like the American Innovation and Online Competition Act by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). The Platform Competition and Opportunity Act (PCOA) by Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) Also aims to reform antitrust law.
The White House blames monopoly behavior for the loss of purchasing power in America. Last month the White House released data showing that four meat processing companies fueled inflation. NYU professor Marion Nestle told the New York Times in an interview that “their goal is to control the market so they can control price”. Despite the comments from Biden’s government, the North American Meat Institute believes the claims are false.
Economist Believes It Is Time To Think About Price Controls
This has sparked a heated debate, and just recently, financial writer Isabella Weber published an opinion piece on the Guardian which said, “We have a powerful weapon for fighting inflation: price controls. It is time we thought about it. ”Weber’s editorial states that US economists“ recommended strategic price controls ”during World War II. In essence, price controls limit free market activity as prescribed prices and restrictions are put in place and enforced by governments. This means that the manufacturer has no say in the pricing of goods and services and the government is in full control.
Weber’s ideas are not very popular, and even Nobel Prize winner and economist Paul Krugman broke the concept. In a tweet that has since been deleted, Krugman wrote: “I’m not a free market fanatic. But that’s really stupid. ”The next day, however, Krugman apologized to Weber and said he had deleted the tweet. Krugmann said:
Delete, with extreme apology, my tweet about Isabella Weber about price controls. No excuses. It is always wrong to use this tone against anyone who argues in good faith, no matter how much you disagree – especially when there is so much bad faith.
Price control concept derided, Harvard economist insists that there is “no basis for assuming that monopoly power has increased”
Another person poked fun at the idea of price controls and said, “We went from ‘inflation is temporary’ to ‘f ***, we need price controls’ within a quarter.” “Anyone who calls themselves an economist and is also an advocate of price controls deserves to be ridiculed, shamed and insulted,” tweeted the Twitter account Hazlitt. The host of the “Smart People Sh * t” podcast, Dennis Porter, said:
Price controls are what every government does before it collapses.
Even Democratic economist and senior Obama administration official Larry Summers insists that strengthening antitrust laws will not help the US economy. In a tweetstorm, Summers said, “The emerging claim that antitrust law can fight inflation mirrors ‘science denial.’ There are many areas such as temporary inflation that serious economists disagree. Antitrust law as an anti-inflation strategy is not one of them. ”Finally, the Harvard economist emphasized that monopoly behavior did not accelerate like inflation.
“There is no basis whatsoever to believe that monopoly power increased in the last year when inflation accelerated sharply,” Summers tweeted.
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America, America inflation, Amy Klobuchar, antitrust law, Biden, corporations, Dennis Porter, economics, economist, Harvard Economist, inflation, Isabella Weber, Isabella Weber price controls, Joe Biden, Larry Summers, monopoly, monopoly behavior, Paul Krugman, price controls, Tom Cotton, US inflation, White House
What do you think of soaring inflation in the US and the White House, which accuses monopoly behavior? What do you think of the concept of price control? Let us know what you think on this matter in the comments below.
Jamie Redman
Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a Florida-based financial tech journalist. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for bitcoin, open source code and decentralized applications. As of September 2015, Redman has written more than 5,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News on the disruptive protocols emerging today.
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