Yellen Downplays Stimulus Contributing to Inflation, Republicans Grill US Treasury Secretary’s Decisions

U.S. Treasury secretary Janet Yellen doesn’t think inflationary pressures stem from the stimulus policies enacted after the Covid-19 outbreak. While speaking to lawmakers on Wednesday, during the House Ways and Means Committee, Republicans criticized Yellen for not knowing about the risks of inflation. A U.S. senator from Wyoming questioned the Treasury secretary’s “pronouncements and decisions” concerning the record gas prices and rising inflation.

On Wednesday, Treasury secretary Janet Yellen downplayed the theory that the stimulus from the American Rescue Plan and other monetary expansion policies contributed significantly to the current rising inflation. “The success of the policy adopted is that we have an economy with the strongest labor market, arguably in the entire post-war period,” Yellen remarked during her House Ways and Means Committee statements. She added that the spending “produced excellent rewards for Americans and, at most, it contributed modestly to inflation.”

Americans are more concerned these days with the hot inflation plaguing the U.S. economy than banning “assault weapons,” according to a poll by Quinnipiac University on June 3-6. Despite the Treasury secretary’s commentary, Republicans such as Wyoming senator John Barrasso do not seem convinced with Yellen’s opinion. “Is there a risk of inflation? You responded, ‘I think there’s a small risk,’” Barrasso said to Yellen on Wednesday. Barrasso added:

Given that, it makes me wonder why Americans should put any confidence in your pronouncements and decisions and recommendations today.

John Thune, a Republican senator from South Dakota, believes the trillions spent toward the stimulus plans created the inflation issues America is facing. “I think that there’s no question that the $2 trillion bill last year overheated the economy, and it’s why we have the mess that we have today,” Thune explained during the House Ways and Means Committee. The Republican senator from Illinois, Darin LaHood, said he was confused by the Biden administration’s lack of remedies. LaHood stated:

As I listened to you here today, and I look at what’s not been done by this administration, it’s really perplexing in a lot of ways on whether the administration is tone deaf or unaware or becoming aware right now.

Just recently, American president Joe Biden told the U.S. public that “families are carrying less debt” and “their average savings are up” since he became president. However, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) statistics show that American savings have plummeted to levels not seen since 2008. Biden’s speech further noted that his administration feels more Americans “feel financially comfortable” since 2013.

The American television host Tucker Carlson opined after Yellen’s first day of testimony on Tuesday, that the U.S. Treasury secretary’s “reckless, loose money policies caused inflation.” The Fox News anchor said that Yellen’s monetary policy is typical of bureaucrats seeking more power.

“Within a year, Yellen had all but abandoned the traditional constraints of monetary policy,” Carlson said. “Instead, there she was yammering on in public about things like racial equity and environmental justice. Now, those are issues that, unlike economics, cannot be quantified or even specifically defined. They are therefore perfect vehicles for power-hungry politicians hoping to become more powerful.”

Yellen stressed during her testimony that the White House is focused on curbing inflation back to pre-pandemic levels, and that addressing inflationary pressure is “the administration’s highest priority.” An official from the Treasury backed Yellen’s comments by noting “the unparalleled strength of America’s recovery enables our country to address global challenges like inflation and Russia’s attack on Ukraine from a position of strength.”

What do you think about Janet Yellen’s commentary on Wednesday at her House Ways and Means Committee testimony? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.