A graphic tweeted by @HouseGOP illustrates the effect of high inflation during President Joe Biden’s tenure.
That graphic shows that frozen vegetables have increased in price by nearly 30 percent; that electricity has increased by 28.5 percent; that public transportation is 26.1 percent more expensive; and that a basic kitchen commodity such as butter is up in price by more than 26 percent. The overall toll taken by such price increases on the macro economy would be difficult to quantify.
Inflation is the measure of price increases of goods and services in an economy on an annual basis. The Consumer Price Index, a figure published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that measures inflation, was 3.4 percent as of April 2024 from April 2023. That CPI measurement indicates that the same goods and services are priced 3.4 percent more expensively than they were a year ago. The Federal Reserve has consistently stated that its goal for inflation is 2 percent. There have been 39 CPI figures published, on a monthly basis, since President Biden assumed office. Of those 39, 7 were 8 percent or higher; 12 (a full year) were 7 percent or higher; 17 were 6 percent or higher; 21 were 5 percent or higher; 26 were 4 percent or higher; and only two of those recordings, the first two months Biden was in office, were below 3 percent.
The Democrat agenda includes a push for higher taxes. High taxes affect everyone and everything in an economy. An employee takes less of his earned income home from work due to a higher tax rate. If a person is living paycheck to paycheck, higher taxes force that person to make increasingly basic economic decisions. The hiring options for an employer are fewer and more constrained due to a higher tax rate. A consumer must eliminate purchases from her budget because the dollars that would have otherwise been used for such purposes will have been paid in taxes, something that produces a ripple consumption-reduction effect throughout the economy. The quality of goods produced or services offered by a business is impacted by higher taxes because less money is available to be spent on the quality of goods and services. Options for consumption and employment are more limited due to high taxes because investors who would otherwise put capital behind innovative, entrepreneurial endeavors and start-ups are paying more of that capital in taxes. In their effort to sell tax increases, Democrats often use phrases akin to, “Taxes will not be raised on anyone making less than (insert amount here).” But what about the reduced payroll amount for the employee making less than (insert amount here) because his or her employer is paying a higher corporate tax rate? What about the higher price at the grocery store or gas pump that someone making less than (insert amount here) is not exempt from paying? High taxes affect everyone and everything in an economy.