TopFeatured.com

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Cascading Policy Errors

1: Covid hit. Lockdowns that were arguably excusable in the beginning, lingered far too long, affecting far too many businesses. Policy error one.

2: The Fed reacted with QE far to excessive and far too long, continuing all the way until March 2022. Policy error two.

3. Free Money from Congress. Again excusable in the beginning, but the second round by Trump was excessive and the third by Biden was preposterous. Policy errors three and four with Biden getting far more of the blame.

4. Demand shift to goods away from services as a result of the above three items. 

5. The demand shift to goods happened when there were fewer workers due to continuing lockdowns. 

6. The US meddled in Ukraine in 2014 setting the stage for war. And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy kept insisting to the bitter end it wanted to be in the EU and NATO, both red flags to Putin. Accurately label Zelenskyy’s statements a policy error. And blame Putin for the war, so that makes policy errors five, six, and seven counting US meddling in 2014.

7: Let’s not leave Angela Merkel out of this. Kowtowing to the Greens, Merkel mothballed Germany’s nuclear plants creating greater dependence on energy from Russia. This is policy error number eight.

8. And what about Biden and the US Greens telling Big Oil it wanted to put them out of business. Guess what? Energy investment plunged. Policy error number 9. 

9. Inane sanctions in response to the war busted supply chains in energy. Policy errors ten and eleven by the US and EU. 

10. Finally, please consider Biden’s stupid energy policy to rising oil price. Instead of taking actions to increase oil supply, Biden blamed oil companies, threated tax hikes, threated FTC involvement, blamed gouging, then with refinery capacity already crippled demanded more ethanol from corn. The ethanol demand will increase need for fertilizer, increase summer smog, and drive more small refiners out of business. 

I am not sure how many policy errors there are in point ten. Pick a number.

Passing the Buck 

Biden: “I’m sick of this stuff … the American people think the reason for inflation is government spending more money. Simply not true!”

🤔 pic.twitter.com/Xak7CKTjFs

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 11, 2022

Putin Tax

#US inflation has hit a 40-year high of 8.6%/yr. President Biden continues to spin a tale that he isn’t responsible for the worst inflation in 40 yrs. He blames everything from COVID to Putin. What’s worse is that he keeps telling us that he knows how to solve the problem. pic.twitter.com/rnOK4F2Y1q

— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) June 12, 2022

Search for Enemies 

Biden has basic conflict. His climate-change activist base demands US rely less on oil & gas. But US needs more oil & gas. Biden stuck. Blames Putin. Now blames oil companies, too. Echoing Bernie Sanders. Can’t blame supporters, won’t blame himself. https://t.co/7l8qeSJIw6

— Byron York (@ByronYork) June 15, 2022

Paul Krugman, No Policy Errors?!

And here’s the thing: the political backlash is mostly about the stuff that can’t be blamed on policy, especially gasoline. Republicans would still be going on about $5 gas even if there had never been a fiscal stimulus 3/

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) June 17, 2022

No, it’s not all Biden’s fault. It’s Biden, the Fed, Congress, Merkel, Putin, Trump, the EU, and Zelenskyy.

Please apportion the blame, but here’s a simple way to start: 

• It’s mostly Progressive free money policies by Biden and Congress coupled with inane responses to to the war with the Fed providing excess stimulus all the way to March of 2022. 

• Key policy errors by Merkel and the US in 2014 set the stage for compounding everything that followed. 

Recession Watch Update, Where Do Things Stand After the Huge Fed Hike?

Meanwhile, regardless of blame assessment, a recession looms. 

Please consider Recession Watch Update, Where Do Things Stand After the Huge Fed Hike?

*  *  *

Please Subscribe to MishTalk Email Alerts.