The Paper reporter Hou Jiacheng
On May 31, local time, U.S. President Biden discussed measures to address high inflation at his meeting with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the White House. The Biden administration sent a signal to ease the high inflation in the United States.
It was the third meeting between the two and the first since Biden announced his nomination of Powell for re-election as Fed chair last November.Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the previous Fed chair, also attended the meeting on Tuesday.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Biden congratulated Powell on his recent successful re-election and pledged to remain hands-off with the Fed."I'm not going to interfere with their vital work," Biden said, adding that he and the Fed are very focused on tackling inflation.
Brian Deese, director of the White House National Economic Council, said it was "a very constructive meeting focused on the outlook for the U.S. and global economy."However, apart from mentioning that Biden respects the independence of the Fed, he declined to provide details of the private meeting, and neither the White House nor the Fed provided further details of the meeting.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration has been seeking to draw a sharper contrast to the Republican Party on the issue of the economy and inflation ahead of the fall midterm elections.And senior White House advisers have recently expressed disappointment at the status quo of inflation.Some officials say they should publicly acknowledge that government stimulus has led to higher prices, while others oppose such a concession.
According to CNN, Yellen admitted on the same day that she failed to anticipate the continued distress caused by high inflation to American consumers as the Biden administration struggles to contain the growing political burden.Asked about her comments that inflation posed only a "small risk" from 2021, Yellen said she had misjudged the path of inflation at the time.
Yellen also said that President Biden knows "what a huge burden inflation has placed on American families."
On May 30, local time, Biden pointed out in an opinion article published by the Wall Street Journal that during his tenure, the wealth of the American masses has grown, and the United States is "in a better economic position than almost all other countries."He pledged to fight inflation by reducing the federal budget deficit, working to repair broken global supply chains, passing legislation to lower household energy costs and relying on the Federal Reserve, among other measures.
"With the right policies, the U.S. economy can transition from recovery to steady growth and lower inflation without giving up on these historic gains," Biden said in the article.
